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HE   TURNED   JUST   IN   TIME    TO    ESCAPE    AN    ARROW." 


Paee  184. 


VIRGINIA   DARE 


a  Romance  of  i^t  Sixteentij  Centurg 


BY 


E.  A.  B.   S., 


AUTHOB  OF   "CECIL'S    STORY   OF   THE    DOVE,"   "STORIES   OF 

EASTER-TIDB,"   ETC. 


Library,  Univ.  ©f 
North  Carolina 


NEW    YORK: 
THOMAS    WHITTAKER 

2  AND  3  Bible  House 

1892 


Copyright,  1892, 
By  Thomas  Whittaker. 


(l 


GRATEFULLY  DEDICATED  TO  OUR  RECTOR 

AND  FRIEND, 

Eeberenti  SosepI)  dareg^  ^M^, 

OF 

SARATOGA  SPRINGS. 


PEEFACB. 


The  author  would  like  to  remind  the  readers 
of  the  romance  of  Virginia  Dare,  that  if  they 
go  back  in  memory  to  their  schooldays,  and  the 
details  of  their  American  history,  they  will  re- 
member that  Governor  White  sailed  for  Eng- 
land from  Roanoke  on  the  28th  of  August, 
1587,  leaving  behind  him  his  daughter,  and  her 
child  who  had  been  born  ten  days  before ;  that 
he  was  unable  to  return  immediately,  owing  to 
war  with  Spain,  and  when  after  the  lapse  of  the 
three  years  he  did  return,  he  found  the  island 
of  Roanoke  deserted,  and  a  palisade  built,  as  if 
there  had  been  a  fight  with  the  Indians.  He 
found  no  cross,  as  he  had  directed  them  to  put 
one  if  they  were  in  trouble,  over  the  name  of 
the  place  to  which  they  had  removed.  But  he 
found  on  one  tree  the  first  three  letters  of  the 
word  "Croatoan,"  and  on  another  the  entire 
word.  They  attempted  to  find  Croatoan,  but, 
losing  their  anchors,  were  obliged  to  drift  away 
and  give  up  the  search. 


CHAPTER  I. 


VIRGINIA  DARE: 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY, 


CHAPTER   I. 

"I  cannot  feel 
That  all  is  well  when  darkening  clouds  conceal 

The  shining  sun; 
But  then  I  know 

God  lives  and  loves;  and  say,  since  it  is  so, 
Thy  will  be  done." 

E.  B.  Browning. 

"  We've  got  a  bright  lookout,  if  this  day  is 
the  foreteller  of  what  our  nation  is  to  be  in  this 
new  land;"  and  the  speaker  threw  down  his 
hunting-knife  with  a  satirical  laugh. 

"Well,  Jake,  we  cannot  expect  anything 
brighter  if  we've  sense  and  courage  enough  to 
look  before  us.  Ten  days  more  and  the  ships 
will  be  gone ;  then  what  is  there  to  prevent 
these  savages   from   murdering  us  all  ?     Our 

7 


8  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

colony  will  have  a  short  day,  and  may  be  wiped 
out  before  it  is  half  over.  This  land  belongs 
to  the  redskins ;  and  when  our  men  and  the 
governors  fly  over  the  water,  and  won't  take 
us,  it  is  simply  saying,  '  Poor  things,  some- 
one's got  to  stay,  or  the  London  Company  won't 
like  it:  be  brave,  and  die  like  Englishmen  for 
us.' " 

"  What  dost  thou  say,  Hopeful  Kent  ?  Ah ! 
thou  talkest  like  a  brave  Englishman;  surely, 
shouldst  thou  die  as  thou  livest,  thy  country- 
men would  have  naught  to  be  proud  of  in  thee." 
Both  men  looked  ashamed  as  the  speaker  ad- 
vanced from  the  wood,  and  looked  straight  at 
them  with  his  great  searching  eyes,  from  under 
a  broad-brimmed  flat  hat,  such  as  was  worn  by 
the  clergy  after  the  Reformation. 

He  looked  almost  sternly  at  the  two  men  as 
he  asked,  "Dost  thou  try  to  better  things  by 
hard  work?  Dost  thou  try  to  help  thy  gover- 
nor, whom  thy  Lord  has  put  over  thee  ?  For 
shame,  Jake  Barnes!  Didst  thou  work  more, 
and  growl  less,  thou  would'st  do  better.  Thou 
scarcely  livest  up  to  thy  blessed  calling  in  thy 
name.  Hopeful  Kent!  How  great  is  the  mercy 
of  thy  God  that  he  smite th  thee  not!  " 

Jake  Barnes  shuffled  away,  muttering  some- 


VIRGINIA   DARE.  9 

thing  to  himself  about  "preaching  parsons;" 
but  the  other  man  asked,  "Don't  you  think, 
Master  Bradford,  it  is  rather  bad  luck  that  the 
day  the  first  white  baby  opens  its  eyes  in  this 
new  land  should  be  wild  and  rough  ?  I  always 
look,  sir,  on  the  bright  side  when  my  judg- 
ment lets  me,  but  I  think  it's  a  bad  sign." 

"Dost  thou?  See,  Hopeful,"  cried  the  old 
man,  "even  now  the  sun  has  broken  through. 
God  be  praised!  Be  there  such  things  as  thou 
speakest  of,  —  chance,  signs,  and  luck,  —  I  wot 
not  of  them.  But,  even  so,  the  day  shall 
dawn  dull  and  hard  for  us,  as  we  have  seen; 
but  when  the  blessed  evensong  calleth,  it  shall 
be  bright  as  yonder  sky  for  our  people,  and  the 
next  day  shall  dawn  and  set  with  peace  and 
plenty  for  them,  through  God's  great  mercy." 

"  A  pity  the  first  child  was  not  a  boy :  we  all 
think  that,  sir,  don't  you?" 

"Ah,  Hopeful,  the  dear  Lord  knoweth  best! 
This  sweet  lamb  of  his  fold,  born  in  this  hea- 
then land,  mayhap  she  was  sent  a  woman  that 
her  constancy  may  keep  her  faith  bright, 
though  her  way  be  a  hard  one.  God  bless 
her!" 

"Why  should  a  woman  be  more  constant 
than  a  man,  sir?     I  think  we  men  make  the 


10  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

world  what  it  is,  and  it  seems  to  me  rather 
bad  that  this  child  is  a  girl.  We  want  fight- 
ing, not  constancy,  now.  She'll  need  as  much 
care  and  food  as  if  she  were  going  to  fell  a 
dozen  Indians  when  she's  grown.  There's 
been  but  little  work  done  to-day,  the  men  are 
all  so  excited,  and  all  over  a  bit  of  a  girl.'* 

"There's  not  a  man  among  us  that  knoweth 
the  worth  of  a  strong  arm  that  the  good  Lord 
giveth  unto  his  soldiers,  better  than  1;  but  I 
have  not  the  time  to  be  talking  to-day  of  the 
work  of  the  blessed  women  in  the  world.  It 
was  the  holy  Father's  will;  praised  be  his 
name !  Let  us  bow  down  in  thanksgiving  that 
he  hath  sent  unto  us  one  of  his  little  ones ;  for 
where  they  go  they  carry  his  blessing.  As 
thou  art  pained  by  the  slackness  among  the 
men  about  the  work,  I'll  keep  thee  no  longer, 
thou  may'st  go  to  thy  tasks ;  mayhap  they  will 
follow  thy  example." 

"Please,  Master  Bradford,  Mistress  Wilkins 
sends  her  regards,  and  would  have  me  say  that 
she  would  be  wanting  to  speak  with  you." 
The  speaker  was  a  child  of  ten  or  twelve,  who 
courtesied  as  she  gave  her  message.  She  was  a 
strange-looking  little  figure,  with  her  tightly 
plaited  yellow   hair   drawn   back  from  a  very 


VIRGINIA   BABE.  11 

brown  forehead.  Her  pale-blue  eyes  were  a 
strange  contrast  to  her  skin,  which  was  almost 
copper  color  from  exposure .  She  wore  a  plain 
dark  frock,  with  a  kerchief  neatly  crossed  on 
her  breast. 

The  clergyman  took  the  child's  hand,  say- 
ing, "I  will  come  at  once,  Patience,  child; 
art  thou  going  back  to  Mistress  Wilkins  now  ?  " 

"  Please,  I  will  be  there  almost  with  Master 
Bradford,  if  I  may  first  gather  some  of  those 
posies  to  put  on  the  cradle.  Mistress  Wilkins 
says  I  may  rock  it,"  said  the  child,  looking  up 
into  the  gray  eyes  that  were  smiling  kindly 
down  on  her.  They  seemed  to  encourage  her; 
for  she  added,  clasping  her  hands,  and  fairly 
beaming  with  delight,  "  The  baby  is  the  most 
beautiful  one,  sir,  you  ever  saw.  I  love  it, 
oh,  so  much !  They  want  to  ask  you  about  its 
name,  and  when  it  would  please  you  to  give 
it,  sir. 

"  Ah,  yes,  I  suppose  the  governor  wills  it  to 
be  done  before  we  sail ;  sure,  it  must  be,  but  I 
had  not  thought  of  it.  He  is  right:  I  am  too 
old  for  this  life  here;  my  memory  is  failing 
me.  I  shall  go  back  to  England  and  thank 
the  blessed  Lord  for  letting  so  unworthy  a  ser- 
vant do  so  great  a  work  as  to  receive  for  him 


12  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

two  precious  souls  belonging  to  so  strange  a 
time  and  people,  —  the  reel  savage  Manteo  last 
week;  and  the  wee  baby,  the  first  one  in  a  new 
and  heathen  land,  this  week,  no  doubt." 

The  old  man  had  nodded  his  consent  to  the 
child,  and  walked  on  with  bowed  head,  thinking 
aloud.  The  child  sprang  at  once  into  a  little 
thicket  where  wild  vines  and  flowers  grew  in 
abundance,  and  gathered  her  arms  full.  She 
certainly  made  an  odd  picture ;  her  droll  little 
figure  in  that  wild,  unbroken  country,  as  she 
stood  on  the  branch  of  a  fallen  tree,  one  arm 
full  of  flowers  and  trailing  vines,  while  she 
was  trying  with  the  other  how  far  she  could 
throw  a  flat  stone  and  make  it  skip  over  the 
water.  As  it  skipped  once,  twice,  three  times, 
then  sank,  making  great  circles  on  the  smooth 
surface,  she  laughed  merrily,  and  springing 
from  branch  to  branch  she  ran  on,  jumping  over 
every  obstacle,  at  the  same  time  chanting :  — 

"Be  thou,  OGod,  exalted  high; 
And  as  thy  glory  fills  the  sky, 
So  let  it  be  on  earth  displayed, 
Till  thou  art  here,  as  there,  obeyed." 

It  was  Friday  that  Patience  summoned  Mas- 
ter Bradford  to  Mrs.  Dare's  hut,  where  only  a 
few  hours  before  the  baby  had  opened  its  blue 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  13 

eyes  and  caused  excitement  in  the  little  colony. 
Even  Master  Bradford  felt  a  strange  thrill  of 
pleasure  as  Mistress  Wilkins  put  the  tiny  crea- 
ture into  his  arms,  saying,  "Give  the  child 
your  blessing,  sir :  I  felt  it  were  not  safe  to  let 
her  be  longer  without  at  least  the  blessing  of  a 
priest." 

As  he  took  the  little  one,  there  was  an  un- 
easy look  in  his  honest  face.  Master  Bradford 
would  not  have  suited  some  Churchmen  of  the 
present  day;  and  yet  we  all  look  back  with 
pride  as  well  as  pleasure  to  the  fact  that  among 
the  first  colonists  in  this  country  there  was  a 
priest  of  our  Church,  and  the  first  time  that 
praise  and  worship  sounded  in  our  language 
from  this  great  continent,  it  was  in  the  words 
of  our  own  beautiful  liturgy;  and  thus,  from 
Master  Bradford's  service  in  the  rude  Roanoke 
chapel,  to  the  days  of  Captain  John  Smith, 
when  good  Mr.  Hunt  and  Mr.  Whittaker 
fought  the  strengthening  Puritan  element,  no 
service  had  ever  been  offered  but  that  of  our 
own  dear  Church. 

He  replied,  "She  is  the  first  precious  lamb 
the  Lord  has  trusted  to  this  fold.  'Tis  true 
the  blessing  of  any  of  God's  children  is  but  a 
form  of  prayer  to  him  and  can  do  no  harm.'* 


14  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

He  held  many  of  the  Puritan  views  that  were 
then  beginning  to  take  root  in  England.  It  was 
only  natural,  then,  that  he  should  hesitate  to 
comply  with  Mistress  Wilkins's  request.  But 
he  took  the  child  tenderly,  as  it  was  laid  in  his 
arms;  and  as  he  held  it  and  looked  into  its 
little  face,  so  fresh  from  heaven,  all  prejudice 
slipped  away,  and  he  satisfied  even  Mistress 
Wilkins. 

The  tall  figure  of  Governor  White,  and  his 
assistant  Ananias  Dare,  entered  the  room  as 
Master  Bradford  began,  "  May  our  ever-loving 
Shepherd  watch  over  this  little  lamb  in  this 
wilderness,  and  lead  her  safely  through  it  to 
the  heavenly  fold  at  last.  And  may  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy^  Spirit 
ever  be  with  her." 

It  was  Sunday  morning,  the  tenth  after 
Trinity,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1587,  the 
18th  of  August,  a  typical  day  for  that  time  of 
the  year,  sunny  and  warm,  with  a  soft  haze 
over  everything,  as  if  the  world  were  resting, 
or  rather,  on  this  particular  day,  in  this  partic- 
ular place,  the  world  looked  as  if  it  had  never 
waked  up  at  all.  One  could  not  believe  that 
those  lovely  flowers  and  ferns  had  ever  been 
covered  with    ice    and    snow,    or   that    those 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  15 

mighty  forest  trees  had  been  shaken  in  fierce 
storms  till  their  very  roots  trembled  in  the 
earth.  That  still  peaceful  sheet  of  water, 
sparkling  in  the  morning  sunlight,  seemed  un- 
able to  lash  itself  into  great  waves,  or  to  dash 
great  ships  into  fragments. 

On  this  little  island  this  quiet  Sunday,  there 
was  a  strange  sight  to  be  seen  as  the  drum-beat 
called  the  people  to  service  in  the  little  log 
chapel;  and  an  odd-looking  lot  they  were. 
First  came  two  Puritan  maidens,  walking  de- 
murely together;  then  an  English  gentleman, 
whose  clothes  looked  shabby,  as  did  he  him- 
self; then  a  little  company  from  the  shore, 
where  some  canoes  showed  that  they  had  just 
landed.  Among  them  was  a  tall  figure  with 
straight  black  hair  hanging  around  his  shoul- 
ders: he  wore  a  topknot  of  feathers,  a  bright 
blanket,  an  English  ruff  about  his  neck,  which 
had  been  given  him  while  he  was  in  England ; 
for  this  was  Manteo,  the  chief  who  had  been 
made  a  Christian  only  the  Sunday  before  in  this 
same  little  chapel.  He  had  a  fine  figure,  tall 
and  graceful.  With  him  came  a  little  group  of 
his  own  braves :  they  went  straight  up  the  hill 
towards  the  low  building.  Then  came  some 
slouching  sailors,  who  looked  as  if  they  did  not 


16  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

often  go  to  the  chapel,  and  were  a  little  uncom- 
fortable now.  Then  there  were  some  men  in 
smock-frocks.  Then  behind  a  whole  family,  just 
as  you  might  have  seen  at  home  in  England,  go- 
ing to  any  church.  They  were  evidently  people 
of  the  middle  class.  The  father  had  undoubt- 
edl}^  been  a  miller  before  lie  left  home,  if  one 
might  judge  from  his  funny  springing  step  and 
broad  miller's  thumb.  He  looked  very  proud 
and  happy  as  he  walked  along  by  his  sturdy 
wife.  Before  them  were  their  four  children,  a 
little  rosy  boy  and  a  big  girl,  hand  in  hand,  and 
the  twins,  yellow-haired  English  lassies.  A 
strange  mixture  they  all  were ;  a  little  piece  of 
civilization  in  the  heart  of  a  great  wilderness ; 
commonplace  English  people,  living  and  wor- 
shipping in  the  primeval  forest  of  the  new  land. 


CHAPTER  II. 


CHAPTER  II. 

"Yet  in  sharp  hours  of  trial 

The  mighty  seal  must  needs  he  prov'd ; 
Dread  spirits  wait  in  stern  espial;  — 
But  name  thou  still  the  Name  belov'd." 

Keble. 

There  stood  Master  Bradford  in  gown  and 
bands,  his  kindly  face  upturned  as  he  led  the 
prayers  and  psalms.  He  had  finished  reading 
the  lesson  from  St.  John's  Gospel,  when  a  little 
company  entered  the  chapel  and  came  straight 
up  the  aisle ;  first  Governor  White's  tall  figure, 
then  Mistress  Wilkins,  carrying  the  baby,  closely 
followed  by  its  father,  who  looked  proud  and 
happy. 

Indian  and  white  man  alike  arose  as  Master 
Bradford  began  the  familiar  and  beautiful  words 
of  our  baptismal  service ;  and  when  he  put  the 
holy  water  on  the  wee  brow  and  said,  "  Vir- 
ginia, I  baptize  thee,"  a  murmur  of  satisfaction 
ran  through  the  little  congregation.  Never  was 
queen  baptized  with  more  ceremony,  or  in  the 
presence  of  a  more  loving  or  devoted  congrega- 

19 


20  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

tion,  than  this  little  grandchild  of  Governor 
White,  who  had  received  the  name  of  the  new 
country  in  which  she  was  the  first  Christian  baby 
born.  It  was  because  of  her  baptism  that  on  this 
tenth  Sunday  after  Trinity  every  one  in  the  lit- 
tle Roanoke  colony  but  the  child's  own  mother 
crowded  into  and  around  the  roughly  made  log 
building  that  served  for  a  church  or  chapel. 

That  first  house  of  God  in  our  land,  which 
now,  three  hundred  years  later,  abounds  in 
splendid  churches  and  cathedrals,  was,  I  fancy, 
as  precious  to  him  who  values  our  gifts  by  our 
love,  and  counts  worth  by  sacrifice,  as  the  gor- 
geous temples  of  our  day.  He  did  not  despise 
the  roughly  made  house  in  which  the  Holy 
Presence  was  first  celebrated;  that  log  room 
where  there  was  moss  for  a  carpet,  a  great  bowl- 
der for  the  altar,  lichen  and  cup-moss  for  hang- 
ings, the  font,  a  spring  trickling  through  the 
stones ;  where  for  decorations  the  sweetbrier 
and  wild  creeper  had  forced  their  way  between 
the  logs,  and  clung  to  the  barky  walls,  and 
where  the  little  birds  often  flew  in  for  their 
morning  hymn  of  praise,  and  the  forest  trees 
raised  their  arms  protectingly  over  the  holy  spot, 
forming,  as  it  were,  a  lofty  cathedral  arch.  To 
those  loving  Eyes  watching  from   above,  that 


VIRGINIA  BARE.  21 

humble  square  building,  made  by  the  loving 
hands  of  those  first  settlers  as  a  token  of  their 
love  and  gratitude  for  bringing  them  safely 
through  the  mighty  waters  to  so  pleasant  a  port, 
that  first  chapel,  I  am  sure,  was  as  beautiful  as 
are  many  of  our  richly  carved  and  polished 
temples  of  stone. 

As  the  service  ended,  the  little  congregation 
gathered  outside  the  governor's  hut;  inside, 
some  of  the  principal  men  were  talking  to  him, 
also  Manteo,  the  Indian  chief.  Governor  White 
was  standing  in  the  inner  room  by  the  bed ;  he 
was  holding  the  baby  in  his  arms,  and  speaking 
very  earnestly.  A  voice  from  the  bed  cried, 
"  O  father,  father  dear,  you  will  not  leave  me ! 
do  not,  do  not." 

"  Yes,  Eleanor,"  was  the  reply ;  "  God  calls 
me  back  to  England.  I  only  waited  to  see  your 
baby ;  with  her  you  will  find  it  less  lonely,  dear, 
and  you  are  always  brave."  And,  as  Ananias 
Dare  came  in  and  bent  over  the  bed,  Governor 
White  walked  out  to  the  group  of  men  waiting 
in  the  outer  room.  He  closed  the  door  behind 
liim  as  he  said,  "  Well,  my  men,  I  think  this  is 
a  good  time  and  place  for  me  to  tell  you  the 
plans  we  are  to  carry  out." 

And  then,  stepping  to  the  door,  that  those 


22  VIRGINIA  BARE. 

standing  outside  might  hear  what  he  said,  he 
continued,  "This  is  our  plan:  I  shall  sail  for 
England  as  soon  as  we  can  make  everything 
ready.  Some  of  the  men  will  go  with  me,  the 
others  remain  here  till  our  return.  I  do  not 
mean  in  this  particular  place,  but  in  this  won- 
derful new  country.  I  do  not  think  it  would  be 
wise  to  remain  on  this  island ;  any  of  the  tribes 
which  wish  to  drive  you  away  have  the  advan- 
tage, being  able  to  approach  you  on  every  side 
in  their  canoes.  You  are  to  leave  Roanoke  and 
go  to  the  mainland,  and  settle  in  a  spot  not  held 
by  any  particular  tribe.  Wanchese  is  no  longer 
friendly;  partly,  I  believe,  because  he  thinks 
that  at  one  time  this  island  belonged  to  his 
tribe.  However  this  may  be,  I  am  assured  that 
it  would  be  better  for  you  to  be  on  the  mainland 
for  many  reasons,  and  that  it  would  be  wise  for 
you  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  Wanchese. 
When  you  leave  Roanoke,  carve  on  a  tree  that 
overhangs  the  little  bay  the  name  of  the  place 
you  have  removed  to ;  if  in  danger  or  distress, 
carve  over  the  name  a  cross.  I  have  drawn  up 
the  laws  that  are  to  govern  you,  and  which  v/ill 
be  in  my  room  ready  for  you  to  sign  to-morrow. 
I  will  leave  behind  me  ninety-one  men,  the 
seventeen  women,  and  eight  children,  and  these 
laws  are  to  govern  them.'' 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  23 

As  the  governor  saw  the  dissatisfied  faces,  he 
continued,  "  I  shall  return  as  soon  as  it  is  pos- 
sible :  I  am  sure  you  cannot  doubt  that.  Am  I 
not  leaving  you  good  security,  my  daughter  and 
her  child,  this  dear  little  one  ?  " 

He  laid  his  hand  on  the  swinging  cradle  in 
which  he  had  put  the  baby ;  and  then,  raising 
the  other  hand  and  looking  up,  he  said  in  a  clear, 
distinct,  and  reverent  way,  "  Before  you  all,  my 
friends,  and  before  my  God,  I  swear  I  will  be 
faithful  to  you.  I  will  do  to  you  as  I  hope  and 
pray  I  may  be  done  by.  I  shall  remember  you, 
as  I  want  you  to  remember  my  laws  and  wishes, 
for  which  we  shall  have  to  answer  in  the  day  of 
the  great  Judgment." 

The  men  outside  shuffled  off,  while  those 
inside  who  belonged  to  the  council  talked  long 
with  the  governor.  Manteo  listened,  and  ad- 
mired the  white  chief's  power  and  wisdom. 

The  next  day  the  men,  though  they  had  made 
many  threats,  one  by  one  signed  the  laws  that 
were  to  govern  the  colony. 

Then  there  came  days  of  busy  preparation  for 
the  return  of  the  ships  to  England,  and  the  com- 
fort of  those  to  be  left  behind.  Another  baby 
face  appeared,  and  the  happy  family  of  children 
now    numbered    five.      Mr.    Harvey    proudly 


24  VIRGINIA   DARE. 

brought  his  baby  to  Master  Bradford  to  receive 
its  name,  —  Elizabeth. 

Then  came  the  dreadful  day  when  the  ships 
weighed  anchor  and  passed  out  of  sight,  lost  for- 
ever to  those  who  watched  their  departure. 

When  Governor  White's  return  to  England 
was  talked  of,  the  colonists  dreaded  the  time  of 
his  leaving ;  they  shrank  from  even  thinking  of 
it,  and  yet  they  did  not  begin  to  know  what  his 
departure  meant  to  them.  A  handful  of  people 
in  a  great  land  among  savages. 

Mrs.  Dare  grew  strong  very  slowly ;  had  it  not 
been  for  her  baby,  it  is  doubtful  whether  she 
ever  would  have  rallied  after  parting  with  her 
father  and  husband ;  but  that  tiny  face  was  a 
precious  treasure,  not  only  to  the  mother  who 
watched  it  so  lovingly,  but  also  to  every  one  in 
that  little  colony.  There  were  few  men,  even, 
who  did  not  look  in  at  the  door  of  the  little  hut 
some  time  in  the  course  of  every  day  "  to  take  a 
look  at  the  baby."  She  would  allow  herself  to 
be  picked  up  by  any  one,  at  any  time,  without 
a  murmur ;  in  fact,  the  only  time  she  had  ever 
really  cried,  and  then  she  did  it  with  all  her 
might,  was  while  the  governor's  ships  were 
weighing  anchor  and  slowly  moving  out  of  sight. 
Mistress  Wilkins  said  the  child  was   troubled 


VIRGINIA   DARE.  25 

with  colic,  but  there  were  others  who  shook 
their  heads  and  talked  about  omens  and  chil- 
dren's wonderful  power  of  foreseeing  dangers  or 
calamities  while  they  were  too  young  to  talk, 
save  with  angels  or  spirits.  But,  be  the  case 
what  it  may,  the  fact  remains  that  Virginia  was 
an  exceptionally  good  baby,  did  not  cry  at  all 
till  she  was  ten  days  old,  and  never  again  to 
amount  to  anything.  This  is  perhaps  why  baby 
Elizabeth  Harvey  was  not  more  loved ;  she  was 
from  the  first  a  delicate  child,  and  had  more  than 
her  share  of  baby  ailments  and  pains,  and  she 
was  always  crying,  or  just  ready  to  begin  at  the 
slightest  provocation.  Some  people  were  un- 
kind enough  to  say  that  her  mother  deserved  to 
have  such  a  child,  for  calling  her  after  the  queen ; 
that  she  would  have  just  such  a  temper  when 
she  was  grown  up ;  while  Virginia  would  be 
placid,  sweet,  and  sunny,  like  the  land  of  her 
name  and  birth. 

Virginia  was  nearly  five  weeks  old  when  the 
first  change  came  into  her  baby  life ;  in  fact,  this 
change  was  destined  to  affect  the  whole  colony. 


CHAPTER  III. 


CHAPTER  III. 

"  Lay  hands  unto  this  work  with  all  thy  wit, 
Yet  pray  that  God  may  speed  and  profit  it." 

Robert  Salterne. 

It  was  the  very  last  of  September ;  the  day 
had  been  a  perfect  one,  just  the  faintest  touch 
of  autumn  in  the  air  and  on  the  trees.  The 
sun  had  gone  down  in  a  sea  of  glory,  and  the 
peaceful  hour  of  twilight  was  hushing  every- 
thing to  rest.  The  sentinel  was  pacing  to  and 
fro.  It  was  Jake  Barnes's  turn  that  night,  and 
he  did  not  like  the  work  at  all ;  in  fact,  it  was 
hard  to  find  anything  in  the  way  of  work  that 
he  did  like. 

As  he  came  to  a  sudden  halt  by  an  old  tree 
that  overhung  the  water  he  muttered,  "  It's  lots 
of  good  I'd  do  if  the  redskins  should  come  !  I 
suppose  they'd  like  me  to  kill  'em  all.  A  nice 
lot  of  cowards  the  fellows  here  are ;  why  don't 
they  go  and  fight  them  savages,  and  let  us  take 
their  lands  to  pay  us  for  coming  away  across  the 
water ;  frighten  them,  let  'em  see  we  mean  busi- 

29 


30  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

ness.  If  we  don't,  they'll  finish  us  all.  I 
wouldn't  make  friends  with  any  of  'em ;  carrying 
them  around  the  world  as  if  they  were  white 
Christians ;  and  just  because  they  call  one  a 
chief,  he  must  be  treated  like  a  king.  I  hope 
some  day  I'll  have  the  pleasure  of  putting 
my  sword  through  that  red  shining-faced 
Manteo." 

He  stopped  suddenly,  for  a  slight  sound  on 
the  bank  below  caught  his  ear.  He  stepped 
quickly  behind  the  tree,  so  that  if  there  were  an 
arrow  coming  it  could  not  possibly  touch  his 
precious  body.  As  none  came,  he  gathered 
all  his  courage  and  called  out,  "Who  goes 
there?" 

Immediately  a  soft  voice  answered,  "Don't 
fire,  Master  Barnes !     It's  only  me,  Patience." 

"What  are  you  doing  there?  You  deserve 
to  be  shot,"  was  the  gruff  reply. 

"  Oh,  please  don't !  "  cried  Patience.  "  I  was 
only  watching  the  stars  come  out  to  look  in  their 
looking-glass.  Do  you  know,  Master  Barnes, 
that  the  sea  is  the  looking-glass  for  the  sun  and 
moon  and  all  the  little  stars?  To-night  the 
moon-mother  has  stayed  at  home,  but  she  has 
sent  some  clouds  to  take  care  of  her  star-chil- 
dren, and  as  soon  as  they  look  at  themselves  for 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  31 

a  little  while,  their  nurses,  the  clouds,  carry 
them  away  home.  Pretty  soon  they'll  be  all 
gone,  and  then  the  sky  will  be  lonely." 

Barnes  walked  on,  and  had  forgotten  the 
child.  Passing  the  same  spot  a  few  minutes 
later,  he  started  at  the  sound  of  a  soft  voice  say- 
ing, "  Master  Barnes  !  "  Patience  stood  beside 
him ;  the  hand  she  had  laid  on  his  sleeve  shook, 
and  her  upturned  face  was  very  white,  while 
she  said  in  a  voice  that  trembled  with  fear, 
"  There  is  a  canoe  coming  over  from  the  land, 
and  there's  an  Indian  in  it,  I  think." 

"  Where,  child  ?     Are  you  sure  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,"  she  replied ;  "  and  I  was  so  fright- 
ened I  hurried  to  find  you." 

"  I'll  make  short  work  of  him  if  he's  alone,  I 
will,"  Barnes  muttered.  "  One  of  Manteo's  fine 
braves,  I  hope.  I  wish  it  were  the  old  fellow 
himself,  I'd  soon  put  a  ball  through  his  royal 
crown,  and  not  feel  bad  about  it  either ;  "  and  he 
laughed  to  himself.  Then,  turning  to  Patience, 
he  said,  "  Where  is  he  coming  ashore  ?  " 

"He  was  pointing  towards  the  little  bay. 
Master  Barnes ;  but,"  she  added,  "  if  he's  one  of 
Manteo's  Indians,  we  ought  not  to  hurt  him, 
ought  we  ?  " 

"You  go  to  bed,  child,  and  mind  you  say 


32  VIRGINIA  DABE. 

nothing  of  this ;  it's  my  duty  to  shoot  any  one 
that's  lurking  around  in  a  suspicious  way;  I 
ought  to  have  shot  you.  I'll  have  to  do  it  now, 
if  you  don't  hurry  to  bed  and  go  to  sleep.  Off 
with  you!  I  guess  your  Indian  was  all  a 
fancy." 

Patience  waited  for  nothing  more  :  she  almost 
flew  toward  the  little  group  of  cabins,  until  she 
was  hidden  from  Barnes  by  the  woods.  Then, 
with  an  anxious  look  behind,  to  see  he  was  not 
following  her,  she  stood  still.  Barnes  had  no 
idea  of  following  her ;  he  watched  her  out  of 
sight,  descended  the  bank  to  a  rock  from  which 
he  could  command  a  good  view  of  the  little  bay, 
and  sat  down,  ready  to  fire. 

Meanwhile,  Patience  stood  in  the  old  forest 
alone.  As  her  feet  had  been  flying  over  the 
ground,  her  mind  had  been  flying  too.  In  less 
than  half  the  time  it  takes  to  write  it,  she 
thought  over  what  Barnes  had  said  about  killing 
one  of  Manteo's  men ;  she  also  remembered  what 
she  had  heard  Mrs.  Dare  say  one  day,  after 
Manteo  had  been  in  to  see  the  baby  Virginia, 
"  Manteo  is  a  faithful  friend  to  us.  If  the  In- 
dians ever  give  us  trouble  he  will  stand  by  us  to 
the  very  end."  Perhaps  this  was  one  of  his 
men ;  perhaps  he  was  bringing  a  message  from 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  33 

Manteo ;  perhaps  it  might  be  Manteo  himself. 
Some  one  must  save  him. 

Before  she  could  reach  the  huts  to  call  any- 
one, the  canoe  would  reach  the  bay ;  she  was 
the  one  to  save  him.  But  what  if  Master  Barnes 
should  see  her  and  shoot  her !  For  one  moment 
the  thought  frightened  her,  and  she  crouched 
down  on  the  ground.  Another,  and  the  brave 
resolution  was  made.  She  must  save  the  man 
in  the  canoe.  Once  more  she  was  flying  through 
the  dark  forest. 

Well  for  the  baby  Virginia,  and  for  all  in  that 
little  colony,  that  her  steps  were  light  and  quick, 
and  her  heart  was  brave. 

Patience  reached  the  clearing  on  the  ridge  of 
the  bank ;  on  she  moved  stealthily,  one  slip  and 
she  would  be  in  that  dark,  cruel  water.  Well 
for  her  work  that  the  clouds  had  hidden  all  the 
stars.  She  came  to  the  group  of  rocks  standing 
out  in  the  water ;  at  the  same  moment  she  heard 
the  soft  splash  of  the  paddle.  One  quick  spring 
and  she  reached  the  first  slippery  stone.  Could 
she  stand  firmly  enough  to  jump  to  the  next 
rock  ?  If  not,  within  a  few  seconds  the  canoe 
vrould  have  passed  beyond  her  reach.  The 
paddle  sounded  nearer ;  how  her  head  whirled ; 
what  a  giddy  spring !     But  it  was  done. 


34  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

"  Chief  Manteo ! " 

The  paddle  stopped ;  she  repeated  her  words  ; 
the  canoe  came  closer.  "  Who  are  you  ?  "  she 
asked. 

The  Indian  took  her  hand  and  felt  it,  as  if  to 
try  to  understand  who  or  what  she  was,  then  he 
replied  in  broken  English,  "  Ranteo  comes  from 
Manteo  to  the  white  chief.  Why  is  the  white 
child  here  alone  on  the  rocks  ?  " 

"  I  came  here  to  save  you,  for  you  must  not 
go  into  the  little  bay.  Master  Barnes  will  not 
know  who  you  are.  He  says  it  is  his  duty  to 
shoot  every  one  that  is  about  at  this  hour." 

The  Indian  muttered  something  in  his  own 
tongue  that  was  hardly  complimentary  to  the 
whites.  While  Patience  was  trying  to  get  up 
her  courage  to  make  the  difficult  spring  back 
toward  the  land,  the  canoe  had  been  concealed 
under  some  bushes,  for  Ranteo  did  not  feel  quite 
sure  the  whites  were  to  be  trusted ;  if  so,  why 
should  this  child  come  to  warn  him?  He 
thought  of  all  this  as  he  drew  his  canoe  up  on 
land  and  hid  it.  He  was  standing,  holding  his 
hand  out  to  Patience  before  she  had  gained  cour- 
age enough  to  move.  She  took  his  hand  and 
tried  to  jump,  but  the  fright  that  had  lent  her 


_^^. 


VIRGINIA  BARE.  35 

strength  was  over  now,  and  she  was  trembling 
and  unsteady.  Ranteo  drew  her  to  the  rock  on 
which  he  stood,  then,  raising  her  to  his  shoulder, 
stepped  across  to  the  land.  He  did  not  put  her 
down,  but  turned  into  the  unbroken  forest  by  a 
path  or  trail  which  his  Indian  eye  had  traced. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Little  by  little,  sure  and  slow, 

We  fashion  our  future,  of  bliss  or  woe, 

As  the  present  passes  away. 
Our  feet  are  climbing  the  stairway  bright, 
Or  gliding  downward  into  the  night, 

Little  by  little,  day  by  day." 

In  less  than  ten  minutes  they  were  passing 
the  first  log  hut ;  how  quiet  everything  was ! 
Most  of  the  settlers  were  sleeping  as  sweetly  as 
they  might  have  done  in  their  own  villages  in 
dear  old  England.  There  was  not  much  doubt 
which  of  the  huts  was  occupied  by  the  Harvey 
family,  for  the  baby  Elizabeth  was  crying  as 
usual.  No  one  seemed  to  trouble  himself  in  the 
least  about  the  wee  creature  that  sent  forth  con- 
stantly so  pitiful  a  little  cry,  that  it  said  more 
plainly  than  volumes  could  have  done,  how 
weary  and  hard  she  found  this  world. 

She,  the  youngest  creature,  was  the  first  to 
break  the  peace  of  that  quiet  little  Roanoke  vil- 
lage, the  first  Christian  people  in  this  heathen 
land.     But  the  happy  hours  of  peace  in  their 

39 


40  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

rude  little  homes  were  over;  for  in  less  than  an 
hour  every  one's  heart  echoed  the  sad  cry  of  that 
tiny  baby :  there  were  torches  lighted  here  and 
there,  and  little  knots  of  men  talking  in  anxious 
whispers,  as  if  they  feared  being  overheard,  even 
by  the  wind  and  trees ;  women  standing  together 
outside  their  doors,  with  frightened  children 
clinging  to  them.  Every  one  was  thoroughly 
awake  now.  In  one  group  stood  Anthony  Gage, 
an  elderly  man  who  seemed  to  have  authority, 
for  the  others  were  looking  at  him  and  listening. 
He  had  been  made  a  leader  rather  by  circum- 
stances than  by  birth ;  and  he  looked  frightened 
and  bewildered  now,  as  the  torch  cast  a  lurid, 
flickering  light  over  his  handsome  face. 

"  I  think,"  he  was  saying,  "  as  long  as  Manteo 
is  a  powerful  chief,  we  had  better  go  back  with 
Ranteo ;  we  will  be  as  safe  there  as  anywhere. 
It  was  certainly  good  of  him  to  offer  us  shelter, 
for  it  will  mean  war  with  Wanchese  for  him. 
What  say  you,  men  ?  " 

Hopeful  Kent  was  in  the  group,  and  spoke  up 
at  once :  — 

"  I  fear  we  shall  then  be  making  slaves  of  our- 
selves. Manteo  can  do  what  he  likes  with  us 
when  we  are  in  his  camp.  Mayhap  he  has  made 
all  this  story  up  to  get  possession  of  us." 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  41 

The  first  speaker  shook  his  head.  "No,"  he 
said,  "  Manteo  is  our  friend ;  an  Indian  is  not 
treacherous  to  his  friends.  I  have  feared,  ever 
since  Governor  White  left  us,  that  we  should 
have  trouble  with  Wanchese ;  for  if  an  Indian 
is  not  one's  friend,  he  is  his  bitter  enemy.  I 
wish  we  could  have  removed  our  village  at 
once.  The  delay  was  unavoidable,  as  you  all 
know." 

Gage  had  one  of  those  weak  natures,  to  which 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  form  a  positive  and 
quick  decision.  As  he  paced  up  and  down  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  others,  the  group  was 
joined  by  several  persons,  among  whom  was 
Barnes,  more  put  out  than  he  chose  to  acknowl- 
edge at  the  turn  things  had  taken.  He  had 
had  no  opportunity  to  fire  on  the  Indian  as  he 
had  planned,  and  then,  worst  of  all,  a  redskin 
had  got  the  best  of  him.  Altogether,  he  was  in 
a  much  worse  humor  than  usual,  if  that  were 
possible. 

Why  did  such  unwholesome,  unprincipled 
men  come  away  from  their  own  land,  where  the 
laws  could  hold  them  in  check  ? 

Barnes  was  saying  in  a  strong,  fierce  way,  "  I 
tell  you  what  it  is,  lads,  it's  each  man  for  him- 
self.    We  haven't  any  one  over  us.      I,  for  one, 


42  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

sha'n't  put  my  red  scalp  in  the  keeping  of  any 
Indian.  I'd  be  for  taking  the  one  that  has  come 
here  and  quartering  him,  and  sending  a  piece  to 
his  fine  painted  chief,  and  the  rest  to  Wanchese. 
It'll  make  peace  with  him  quicker  than  anything 
else  we  can  do." 

The  tall  governor,  Gage,  had  been  absent 
hardly  five  minutes  from  the  group,  when  he  re- 
turned, still  undecided,  to  find  the  aspect  of 
things  totally  changed. 

He  began  mildly,  "  I  think,  my  dear  fellows, 
we  had  better  get  our  things  together,  and  start 
at  daybreak.    Ranteo  will  wait,  I  have  no  doubt." 

A  growl  rather  than  a  murmur  ran  through 
the  little  group  ;  then  Barnes  spoke  out :  — 

"  We're  not  going,  sir,  one  step  with  that  ras- 
cal. He  can  wait  till  we  scalp  him ;  it's  all  he 
deserves ;  stealing  in  among  us  like  a  thief  in 
the  night.  We  are  going  to  be  men,  and  fight 
for  our  homes,  our  women,  and  children ;  aren't 
we,  lads  ?  " 

"Ay,  ay,"  was  the  reply.  But  one  strong 
voice,  from  a  man  scarcely  more  than  a  lad,  who 
had  just  come  up,  said,  "  Do  you  call  yourselves 
men?  It  is  cowards  I  should  call  3^ou  if  you 
would  touch  one  who  has  come  among  us  to 
save  us  from  ruin,  and  who  trusts  us.    For  shame, 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  43 

fellows !     If  you  touch  him,  it  must  be  over  my 
dead  body." 

"I  shouldn't  mind  that  at  all,"  said  Barnes 
dryly,  drawing  out  his  hunting-knife. 

George  Howe,  for  such  was  the  name  of  the 
speaker,  was  no  coward ;  but  he  realized  that  this 
was  not  the  time  for  a  quarrel  among  themselves, 
when  trouble  and  death  threatened  from  outside. 
So  he  only  said,  "  Put  up  your  knife,  Barnes ;  if 
we  kill  each  other,  there  will  be  one  man  less,  if 
not  two,  to  guard  the  women  and  children.  I 
am  sure  you  would  be  sorry  to  see  this  brave 
fellow  killed.  If  Wanchese  should  come,  and 
you  find  all  he  tells  us  is  true.  Governor  White 
would  be  very  angry  if  we  should  hurt  an  Indian 
without  good  cause." 

"I  care  much  about  his  anger,  or  what  he 
wishes,"  grumbled  Barnes ;  while  Hopeful  Kent 
muttered,  "  I'm  mighty  sure  the  governor  will 
never  be  bothered  with  our  doings  ;  there  will  be 
none  left  to  tell  him.  We'll  all  be  in  Kingdom 
Come  long  before  he  or  any  one  else  comes  back. 
It's  a  lot  any  of  them  trouble  themselves  about 
us."  Once  more  Howe  tried  to  thwart  the  evil 
councils  of  the  lawless  men  among  whom  he 
stood. 

"  Let's   put  it   to  vote  what  we  shall   do," 


44  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

Barnes  said,  coming  up  to  the  group,  after  he 
had  interviewed  a  number  of  the  men,  who  still 
stood  in  little  knots  talking  anxiously.  Howe 
and  the  present  governor,  Gage,  were  standing 
together  a  little  apart.  Howe  had  made  a  sug- 
gestion, and  had  almost  succeeded  in  persuading 
his  companion  to  adopt  it,  when  Barnes  cried 
out  in  triumphant  tones,  "Let's  put  it  to  vote," 
we  are  free  men." 

"  If  you  let  them,"  muttered  Howe,  "  it  will 
be  the  ruin  of  us  all,  sir ;  something,  it  must  be 
the  Evil  One,  I  think,  gives  Barnes  a  strange 
power  over  the  men.  Don't  put  it  to  vote,  sir, 
I  beg ;  make  them  feel  your  authority." 

"No  doubt  you  are  right,  Howe,"  replied 
Gage,  as  he  stepped  nearer  to  Barnes  and  said, 
"  Barnes,  you  have  the  interest  of  us  all  at  heart, 
and  while  I  feel  it  is  right  to  observe  caution,  in 
this  case  we  have  no  choice  but  to  trust  Manteo. 
Were  we  alone  we  might  run  risks,  which  we 
have  no  right  to  do  with  the  women  and  chil- 
dren depending  on  us.  I  know  you  will  trust 
my  decision,  which  I  am  sorry  to  say  differs  from 
your  opinion."  He  stopped,  for  Barnes  had 
turned  and  walked  away.  He  only  went  a  few 
steps,  however ;  then  turning  with  a  gleam  of 
triumph  in  his  eyes,  as  he  saw  the  disturbed  look 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  45 

he  had  caused  in  the  face  of  the  man  whom  he 
ought  to  have  obeyed,  he  cried  furiously,  "  Don't 
be  too  sure  of  your  good  judgment ;  we  came  to 
this  country  free  men,  and  as  a  free  man  I  am 
going  to  act  now.  I  am  not  going  to  Croatoan. 
You  may  if  you  choose.  Who'll  fight  the  sav- 
ages, and  win  lands  and  homes  with  me  ?  or  run 
away  like  a  baby  to  its  mother  when  the  first 
sound  of  fight  comes." 

Nearly  all  the  men  had  gathered  round,  seeing 
their  leader  standing  in  a  weak,  undecided  way, 
looking  helplessly  and  distractedly  at  Barnes, 
whose  strong,  magnetic  face  they  all  felt ;  and 
they  cried,  almost  with  one  voice,  "  I,  Barnes,  I ! 
I  am  no  coward."  "  I  am  an  English  lad,"  or 
"Here's  your  man,  Barnes."  Seeing  that  he 
held  the  men,  he  stepped  before  the  tall  figure 
of  Anthony  Gage,  who  had  authority  and  power 
at  that  moment  had  he  only  had  the  strength  to 
exert  it,  and  began,  "  If  we  are  agreed  to  stay 
here  and  fight  like  men,  the  first  thing  we  can 
do  to  prove  the  strength  of  our  resolution  is  to 
act  upon  it ;  to  put  to  death  this  lying  Indian 
who  has  come  among  us  to  be  a  spy,  to  make 
trouble,  to  get  possession  of  us  and  our  women 
and  children,  to  torture  us,  to  put  us  to  death. 
Do  you  not  say  with  me  that  he  should  be  pun- 


46  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

ished,  to  show  those  red  dogs  we  mean  real  work, 
and  no  more  fooling?  What  do  you  say,  fel- 
lows?" 

Only  a  few  voices  replied ;  even  they  assented 
feebly.  Howe  walked  away  in  disgust.  Barnes, 
feeling  a  little  uncertain  as  to  the  wisdom  of  his 
last  suggestion,  determined  to  excite  his  follow- 
ers a  little  more  before  Ranteo  should  be  spoken 
of  again.  So  he  continued,  "  The  red  villains 
will  be  on  our  track  by  morning,  as  soon  as  they 
find  their  comrade  doesn't  come  back,  so  we 
must  get  to  work  and  build  a  palisade.  If  they 
once  get  hold  of  us  they  will  show  no  mercy, 
though  some  of  you  are  foolish  enough  to  be 
afraid  of  hurting  this  precious  copper-colored 
heathen.  I  confess  I  am  not  womanish  enough 
for  that." 

More  thanTl  score  of  voices  cried  out,  "Nor  I, 
nor  I."  "  They  are  an  ungodly  lot."  "  Clear 
them  off  the  face  of  the  earth ;  it's  a  Christian 
man's  duty."  Gage  stood  with  bowed  head,  the 
very  personification  of  disgust,  yet  with  not 
moral  courage  enough  to  right  the  wrong  he  was 
so  horrified  at.  He  had  tried  to  be  a  good  man, 
and  yet  please  his  fellow-men  among  whom  he 
was  thrown ;  strange  to  say,  an  aim  which  is 
seldom  realized,  even  when  a  whole  life  is  given 


VIRGINIA  DARK  47 

to  its  accomplishment.  The  most  truly  popular 
lives  are  apart  from,  and  without  thought  of, 
self ;  lived  for  one's  fellow-men,  with  a  brighter 
and  more  perfect  mainspring  than  mere  humani- 
tarianism.  Such  lives  become  more  than  good, 
and  without  either  knowing  or  realizing  it,  the 
busy,  flippant  world  stops  in  its  rush  to  admire, 
if  not  to  bow  down  in  adoration. 

When  Howe  left  the  little  company,  he  walked 
carelessly  away,  but  only  while  in  sight  did  he 
go  with  slow  steps  and  bowed  head.  Once  out 
of  sight,  and  sure  he  was  not  watched,  he  ran  as 
fast  as  he  could  under  the  shadow  of  the  trees. 
Going  behind  each  hut,  he  looked  inquiringly  at 
the  inmates,  but  he  reached  the  very  end  before 
he  felt  satisfied. 

It  was  indeed  a  pretty  sight  he  saw  there ;  the 
rude  room  with  its  few  articles  of  rough  furni- 
ture, and  a  few  little  decorations  which  gave  the 
place  a  refined,  home-like  air ;  at  one  side  swung 
a  cradle,  in  which  lay  the  baby  Virginia.  By 
the  cradle  stood  the  beautiful  young  mother, 
looking  proudly  and  lovingly  down  on  her  child. 
The  rush  torch  which  she  held  threw  a  bright 
light  on  the  little  creature,  on  the  mother  her- 
self, and  on  a  tall  figure  that  knelt  by,  watching 
the  child  with  almost  reverent  awe,  only  ventur- 


48  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

ing  to  toucli  the  tiny  hand  with  the  tip  of  his 
long  finger.  The  baby  watched  him  with  her 
pretty  blue  eyes,  cooing  as  the  long  feathers 
waved  back  and  forth  as  he  moved  his  head. 

"  The  child  comes  from  the  Great  Spirit,"  the 
Indian  said. 

Mrs.  Dare  replied  quietly,  "Truly,  Ranteo, 
the  Great  Spirit  sent  her.  She  is  his,  but  he 
has  given  her  to  us  for  a  while.  You  will  be 
her  friend  always,  won't  you?  If  anything 
should  happen  to  me,  I  tremble  to  think  what 
would  become  of  my  baby." 

Ranteo  did  not  speak,  but  he  took  the  baby's 
wee  hand  and  laid  it  against  his  forehead,  then 
pressed  it  to  his  lips,  and  made  a  vow  which  he 
never  forgot.  Nor  did  he  forget  those  words, 
"She  is  His." 

Howe  had  been  weighing  several  plans  in  his 
mind.  At  last  he  was  resolved,  and  stepped  in, 
saying,  "  Ranteo,  come  with  me." 

"Ranteo's  work  will  be  to  carry  the  white 
lady  and  the  Great  Spirit's  baby  to  Manteo's 
wig^vam,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Thank  you,  Ranteo,  we  will  be  very  glad  to 
have  you,  both  baby  and  I,"  Mrs.  Dare  said  in 
her  sweet  way ;  but  glancing  at  Howe's  face  she 
stopped  suddenly  and  asked,  "  What  is  wrong, 
do  tell  me." 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  49 

"  I  might  as  well,"  replied  Howe.  "  Barnes 
has  made  himself  governor,  and  decrees  that  all 
Indians  shall  die,  and  the  white  men  shall  not 
go  to  Croatoan." 

Mrs.  Dare  clasped  her  hands  in  horror,  but 
the  Indian  showed  no  sign  of  surprise  or  fear, 
and  Howe  continued,  "  There  is  no  time  to  lose  ; 
come,  Ranteo,  and  don't  lay  up  all  these  shame- 
ful things  against  our  whole  race." 

Without  a  word,  Ranteo  took  from  his  belt  the 
small  soft  skin  of  a  white  rabbit,  and  laid  it  on 
the  cradle,  then  followed  Howe.  Long  before 
Barnes  and  his  men  had  finished  their  discussion, 
Ranteo  had  slipped  off  in  the  stillness  of  the 
night,  wondering  in  a  stupid  sort  of  a  way  why 
white  men  were  so  unlike  each  other,  that  a 
child  had  risked  her  life  to  save  him  from  being 
shot  when  carrying  a  warning  of  danger  and  an 
offer  of  hospitality,  and  that  after  delivering 
both,  his  life  was  still  so  unsafe  that  he  had  to 
be  smuggled  away  quietly.  As  his  canoe  glided 
quietly  over  the  dark  water,  he  was  glad  the 
pale-faces  were  far  behind,  but  he  wished  that 
sweet,  blue-eyed  papoose  had  a  red  skin. 

After  seeing  Ranteo's  canoe  safely  out  of 
sight,  Howe  turned  back  toward  the  line  of 
moving  torches,  which  showed  where  the  huts 


50  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

were.  As  he  saw  them  moving  he  decided  the 
council  must  be  over,  and  work  of  some  kind 
begun.  "  God  only  knows  what  those  villains 
will  be  up  to  next.  Barnes  hates  me.  It  will 
be  better  for  him  not  to  know  that  I  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  Ranteo's  escape.  I'm  sure  he 
wouldn't  mind  taking  me  in  his  place,  and  I 
shall  be  needed  by  the  women  and  children. 
It's  little  consideration  they'll  have  while  that 
brute  is  self-imposed  governor  of  the  colony," 
he  said  as  he  hurried  on. 

Mrs.  Dare  was  holding  the  baby,  and  she 
looked  up  as  he  entered.  "Did  he  get  off, 
Howe?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes ;  he's  far  across  the  water  by  this  time, 
and  the  villains  are  just  beginning  to  look  for 
him.  I  fancy  I  see  the  torches  coming  this  way," 
he  replied. 

"  Thank  God,"  she  said ;  "  it  would  have  been 
a  disgrace  to  our  people.  Oh,  if  my  father  were 
only  here !     What  is  to  become  of  us  all  ?  " 

"  You  will  hear  soon  enough,"  was  the  reply. 
"  Here  comes  our  gallant  new  governor ;  it  is 
best  to  be  ignorant  about  Ranteo." 


CHAPTER  V. 


CHAPTER  V. 

*'  Ob,  the  little  birds  sang  east,  and  the  little  birds  sang  west, 
And  I  said  in  an  underbreath, 
All  our  life  is  mixed  with  death 
And  who  knoweth  which  is  best?" 

Browning. 

Howe  had  hardly  finished  speaking  when  the 
light  of  another  torch  flashed  through  the  door- 
way, and  with  it  appeared  Barnes's  ugly  face, 
with  his  red  hair  standing  straight  up,  literally 
on  end,  as  it  always  was,  giving  him  the  appear- 
ance of  being  in  a  chronic  state  of  fright ;  but  un- 
less his  own  hideous  nature  frightened  him, 
which  I  am  afraid  he  had  not  grace  enough  to 
see  as  it  really  was,  his  appearance  must  have 
been  merely  a  reflection  of  the  contorted,  mis- 
shappen  soul  within. 

Eleanor  Dare  was  one  of  a  fine  old  English 
family  who  nearly  all  had  served  their  country 
with  their  swords,  on  land  or  sea.  She  had  all 
the  elements  of  a  soldier;  was  a  brave,  noble 
woman.  Her  figure,  which  was  slight  and  grace- 
ful, to  Barnes  looked  strangely  tall  and  com- 

53 


54  riRGINIA   DARE. 

manding  as  she  rose  and  came  to  meet  liim,  still 
holding  her  baby. 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  and  who  are  you  that 
you  make  yourself  a  ruler  ?  " 

Though  Barnes  boasted  of  fearing  neither  God 
nor  man,  there  was  something  very  cowardly  in 
his  nature  :  it  made  him  shiink  back  now  before 
the  eyes  of  this  brave  woman,  who  dared  to 
stand  alone  and  accuse  him  of  what  he  had  done. 

"  You  have  not  heard  the  truth,  madam,"  he 
said,  almost  civilly :  "  some  one  has  been  telling 
you  lies  ;  it  is  the  men  who  have  said  what  we 
shall  do." 

In  a  gentler  tone  she  said,  "  If  that  is  really 
the  case,  I  will  apologize.  Without  doubt  you 
have  sent  some  little  gift  to  Manteo  as  a  token 
of  our  gratitude  ?  " 

"  Sent  I  why  we  hoped  to  find  the  messenger 
here.  We  were  just  about  to  prepare  a  gift  for 
the  chief.  The  men  think  it  better  not  to  go  to 
Croatoan ;  we  are  going  to  make  all  quite  safe 
here.  But,"  he  added,  "  the  Indian  is  not  here, 
is  he?" 

"Here?  oh,  no.  Mistress  Wilkins  is  sleeping 
in  the  back,  and  Howe  was  talking  to  me  here. 
Was  it  Ranteo  who  brought  the  message?  " 

And  Barnes,  seeing  her  great  blue  eyes,  and 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  55 

knowing  little  of  a  woman's  power  to  act  a  part 
perfectly  when  something  great  is  involved, 
never  guessed  she  was  deceiving  him,  as  he  re- 
plied, "  Yes,  it  was  Ranteo,  I  think." 

"  Did  you  tell  him  to  wait,  that  you  wanted  to 
send  a  present  to  Manteo  ?  "  she  asked. 

"No;  I  didn't  think  of  it,"  Barnes  muttered 
as  he  turned  away.  When  he  had  reached  his 
men,  who  stood  a  little  way  off,  he  continued, 
"  I  am  afraid  if  I  had  told  him  what  the  present 
was  tol)e,  he  wouldn't  have  been  any  more  anx- 
ious to  wait.  But  I'll  tell  you  what  it  is,  fellows, 
they  haven't  seen  him,  they  don't  know  anything 
about  him.  Folks  can't  fool  me.  The  red 
scoundrel  must  have  heard  something  we  said, 
and  skipped ;  like  enough  he'll  bring  his  whole 
tribe  back  here  to  scalp  us  all  by  morning." 

It  was  well  for  the  little  stars  that  their  cloud 
nurses  carried  them  off  to  bed  early ;  for  I  am 
sure  they  would  have  felt  very  sad  had  they 
watched  the  changes  fast  appearing  in  the  quiet 
little  village  of  Roanoke,  through  the  long  hours 
of  that  September  night.  The  night  heron  saw 
it  all,  and  sent  forth  its  mournful  wail  of  sorrow. 
But  at  last  there  was  a  lurid  line  of  red  alonor 
the  eastern  horizon,  the  dark  sky  was  shot  with 
streaks  of  crimson,   and  the  day  broke   softly. 


56  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

The  sun  peeped  down  on  the  English  colony,  and 
found  it  wholly  different  from  the  place  she  had 
left  twelve  hours  before.  The  row  of  log  huts 
stood  empty  and  deserted,  many  of  them  had 
lost  their  roofs  or  sides,  wherever  there  were 
strong  logs  they  had  been  removed ;  there  were 
no  signs  of  waking  life  about  the  place ;  every- 
thing was  desolate.  A  few  things  were  strewn 
around,  showing  the  haste  of  the  departure.  At 
the  lower  end  of  the  island  some  trees  were 
hewn  down,  and  just  beyond  rose  a  palisade 
made  of  large  timbers  ;  behind  it,  all  the  settlers 
were  gathered  in  a  confused  crowd.  The  chil- 
dren were  crying  or  fretful ;  the  women  worn 
out  and  weary  ;  most  of  the  men  thoroughly 
out  of  temper,  many  of  them  swearing  against 
Manteo  for  having,  as  they  said,  disturbed  their 
peaceful  lives,  or  against  Queen  Elizabeth  for 
having  sent  them  away  to  die  alone,  like  the 
children  of  Israel  in  the  wilderness. 

The  day  wore  on  as  it  had  first  dawned,  clear 
and  bright,  but  with  a  decided  chill  in  the  air, 
which  by  night  threatened  almost  a  frost.  The 
women  and  children  who  were  exposed  felt  it 
keenly ;  and  the  little  ones  joined  Elizabeth  Har- 
vey's sad  wail,  all  but  Virginia,  who  lay  peace- 
fully looking  up  at  the  blue  sky  and  the  fleecy 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  57 

clouds  ;  her  great  blue  eyes  seemed  to  under- 
stand what  all  the  confusion  meant,  and  she 
uttered  not  a  murmur. 

When  darkness  crept  over  the  land  once  more, 
bringing  with  it  a  penetrating  coldness,  the  men 
threw  themselves  on  the  ground  with  whatever 
covering  they  could  find,  and  went  to  sleep. 
Many  of  the  children  cried  themselves  to  sleep, 
and  most  of  the  tired  women  soon  followed 
them.  Only  in  one  corner  a  little  group  was 
still  awake ;  on  the  ground  where  the  bushes 
formed  a  rude  shelter  lay  Mrs.  Harvey.  She 
had  been  about  very  little  since  the  baby  came. 
The  exertion  and  excitement  of  the  move  had 
proved  too  much  for  her.  •  Mistress  Wilkins  was 
caring  for  her  as  best  she  could,  without  the  aid 
of  medicine,  or  even  comforts,  while  Mrs.  Dare 
tried  to  soothe  poor  little  Elizabeth.  Harvey  sat 
by,  looking  sadly  at  his  wife,  and  with  each 
weary  breath  she  drew  his  heart  grew  more 
heavy,  and  a  greater  sense  of  desolation  crept 
over  him.  The  watchers  watched  on  in  silence  ; 
all  was  still  save  the  cry  of  the  heron  or  the 
screech  of  the  owl  in  the  forest,  when  a  low 
whistle  sounded  fi'om  the  northern  end  of  the 
palisade,  followed  by  a  flash  of  light  from  a 
torch  which  was  held  one  moment  high  in  the 


58  VIRGINIA  DAUB. 

air.  IjThis  was  to  be  Howe's  signal  of  danger, 
for  he  was  stationed  that  night.  Harvey  sprang 
to  his  feet  and  began  waking  the  sleeping  men. 
Barnes  had  only  half  opened  his  eyes,  when  a 
hideous  war-cry  sounded  through  the  forest. 
In  an  instant  every  man  was  on  his  feet,  with 
his  hand  on  his  rifle,  ready  for  the  fight.  Then 
came  the  arrows  thick  and  fast ;  from  the  inside 
of  the  palisade  the  guns  boomed,  or  a  sword 
clashed  against  the  Indian  who  tried  to  mount 
the  palisade.  The  redman's  war-whoop  sounded 
on  every  side,  now  and  then  a  flash  of  lightning, 
for  a  storm  was  gathering,  showed  the  hideous 
paint  on  their  copper-colored  faces.  The  noise 
woke  the  birds  from  their  sleep,  and  drawing 
their  little  heads  from  under  their  wings  they 
sent  forth  doleful  cries  to  add  to  the  horror  of 
the  scene.  Even  the  leaves  seemed  to  sigh  with 
grief  at  the  awful  sight. 

Patience  had  crouched  close  to  Mrs.  Dare,  and 
was  helping  her  to  soothe  the  babies,  when  she 
asked,  "  If  the  Indians  get  us  all,  what  will  they 
do  with  us?" 

Mrs.  Dare  held  her  baby  more  tightly  as  she 
replied,  "  Patience,  even  if  they  are  savages, 
they  are  under  the  power  of  our  God  whom 
they  do  not  know,  and  he  can  take  care  of  us  if 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  59 

the  Indians  do  break  through  the  palisade ;  they 
can  do  nothing  without  his  knowing  it.  You 
and  I  cannot  fight,  dear,  but  we  can  pray." 

Patience  sat  a  few  moments  silent  before  she 
spoke  again.  "  Do  you  know,"  she  said,  "  I  don't 
feel  afraid,  that  is,  very  much  afraid,  for  the 
stars  have  just  come  through  the  clouds ;  though 
there  are  only  two  or  three,  they  are  watching 
us,  and  they  are  so  sorry  ;  they  are  blinking  very 
hard  to  keep  their  tears  back.  See  how  they 
blink  and  twinkle.  I  know  they  are  angels' 
eyes." 

A  sudden  wild  yell  in  the  forest  sent  terror 
to  every  heart.  The  men  had  all  they  could  do 
to  keep  back  Wanchese  and  his  braves.  Several 
of  the  settlers  had  been  already  wounded,  and 
one  killed.  They  could  not  hold  out  much 
longer  against  their  present  enemy,  and  if  help 
had  come  to  Wanchese  they  were  surely  lost. 
Only  one  moment  did  this  thought  depress  them, 
for  the  instant  the  savages  heard  the  cry,  they 
sent  up  one  fierce  and  wild  answer,  and  turned  to 
meet  the  new  foe,  now  rushing  upon  them, 
headed  b}^  Manteo. 

Then  the  Englishmen  fired  a  fresh  volley,  help- 
ing Manteo  to  drive  Wanchese  rapidly  back  to 
the  shore.     The  fight  was  over  for  the  time,  just 


60  VIRGINIA  DABE. 

as  morning  dawned.  Ranteo,  with  three  other 
Indians,  all  in  paint  and  war  toggery,  were 
standing  without  the  palisade.  Howe  went  to 
see  what  they  wanted.  All  expected  only  a 
command  to  surrender,  and  become  Manteo's 
prisoners.  But  no,  Ranteo  only  handed  Howe 
a  soft,  well-cured  deerskin,  saying,  "Manteo 
sends  Ranteo  to  take  the  skin  to  the  Blue-eyes, 
and  will  the  Blue-eyes  and  the  beautiful  lady  go 
with  Ranteo  to  Manteo's  wigwam  ?  " 

He  would  not  come  inside  the  palisade,  and 
Howe  was  not  very  anxious  to  have  him,  as  he 
felt  he  could  not  trust  Barnes.  But  he  took  the 
skin  and  messas^e  to  Mrs.  Dare. 

As  she  listened,  her  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and 
she  said,  "  How  noble  and  good  of  Maneto ! 
But  I  will  not  leave  the  others.  Can  we  not  all 
go  now?    Surely  this  dreadful  night  is  enough." 

Howe  shook  his  head.  "  Those  Indian  bodies 
outside  craze  the  men.  Nothing  will  satisfy 
them  now.  Many  of  them  would  go  through 
anything  in  the  world  to  shoot  an  Indian  again. 
But  go  with  your  baby ;  you  will  be  safer  there 
than  here,"  he  said. 

"No,"  she  replied  firmly;  "I  will  stay  with 
my  people  to  the  last.  Thank  him  for  me, 
Howe,  and  tell  him  what  I  say." 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  61 

Howe  gave  the  message,  and  Ranteo  went 
away  disappointed. 

Hopeful  Kent  took  very  good  care  to  keep  in 
as  safe  a  place  as  possible  during  the  fight,  yet 
he  had  an  arrow  wound  in  his  left  arm.  Mrs. 
Dare  had  bathed  it,  and  was  binding  it  up  for 
him,  when  Patience  ran  up  and  said,  "Mistress 
Wilkins  wanted  her  in  a  hurry,  please."  She 
went  quickly  to  the  elder-bush  which  sheltered 
the  place  where  Mrs.  Harvey  lay.  She  had 
roused  enough  to  take  her  poor  baby.  Mistress 
Wilkins  was  bending  over  her ;  just  as  Eleanor 
Dare  came  up,  she  opened  her  eyes  and  looked 
around  as  if  to  find  some  one.  Then  her  lips 
moved,  and  they  could  just  hear  her  say, 
"  Martin !  "  He  heard  her,  and  was  by  her  side  in 
a  second.     But  the  lips  had  closed  forever. 

The  baby  stirred  and  began  its  mournful  wail, 
as  Eleanor  lifted  it  gently  out  of  the  mother's 
arms,  where  it  would  never  lie  again.  The 
morning  sun  sent  down  a  long  golden  ray, 
which  forced  its  way  through  the  trees,  and 
lighted  the  pale  face  that  was  at  rest  forever. 
The  whole  forest,  birds  and  animals,  seemed  to 
wake  to  life  together,  and  began  their  hymn  of 
praise  and  thanksgiving  just  as  Mistress  Wil- 
kins crossed  the  hands  on  the  still  breast,  saying, 


62  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

"  Grant  her  eternal  rest,  O  Lord,  and  may  per- 
petual light  shine  upon  her !  " 

Mrs.  Harvey's  death  was  one  more  horror 
added  to  that  awful  night.  All  seemed  too 
much  stunned  by  what  they  had  been  through, 
to  be  shocked,  or  even  much  surprised,  at  any- 
thing. Howe  helped  poor  Martin  Harvey  to 
make  a  rude  coffin,  in  which  they  laid  the  body 
of  Elizabeth's  mother.  Patience  gathered  vines 
and  flowers,  and  laid  them  about  the  peaceful 
face.  At  sunset  the  deposed  Governor  Gage 
read  the  service,  and  they  carried  the  coffin 
away.  The  twins,  poor  little  things,  cried  bit- 
terly, as  did  the  little  rosy  boy,  and  the  big  girl, 
who  tried  hard  to  take  her  mother's  place  to  the 
other  three.  And  the  poor  baby,  Elizabeth, 
wailed  more  sadly  than  ever. 

Another  night  crept  on,  and  the  summer 
seemed  to  have  come  back  for  a  little  while. 
Though  it  was  warm,  not  one  star  came  out,  and 
Patience  was  afraid.  Once  more  the  dreadful 
yell,  once  more  the  forest  was  alive  with  Wan- 
chese's  men.  Fierce  and  wild  was  the  fight 
between  the  red  and  the  white  men.  Here  and 
there  the  palisade  began  to  yield;  a  blazing 
arrow  had  set  more  than  one  place  on  fire.  Cries 
and  yells  again  made  the  night  hideous.     The 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  '      63 

owls  and  herons  once  more  joined  in  with  their 
weird,  screeching  cry. 

Mrs.  Dare  sat  holding  the  two  babies,  the 
women  and  children  were  huddled  about  her, 
when  Howe  called  her  away  out  of  their  hearing. 

"An  hour  more  and  the  palisade  must  fall, 
you  must  not  be  here  then.  You  had  better  go 
to  Maneto  quickly." 

"  How  can  we  ?  "  she  asked  simply. 

"  I  have  a  plan,"  he  said.  "  It  is  dangerous, 
but  it  is  more  dangerous  for  you  to  stay  here ; 
every  moment  makes  the  place  less  safe." 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

"Many  are  pains  of  life,  I  need  not  stay  to  count  them; 
there  is  no  one  but  hath  felt  some  of  them,  though  unequally 
they  fall."  —  Ugo  Bassi's  Sermos. 

Scarcely  ten  minutes  had  passed  before  the 
group  of  women  and  children  stood  by  a  little 
opening  which  Howe  had  made  in  the  palisade, 
through  which  they  were  to  escape  into  the 
forest.  Howe  stepped  out  first.  Why  should 
the  leaves  rustle  so?  He  fancied  he  heard  a 
noise  near.  An  arrow  might  pierce  him  in  a 
second,  or  one  of  those  frightful  yells  might 
announce  their  discovery. 

But  no  arrow  came,  and  one  by  one  the  little 
procession  filed  out  behind  him  into  the  dark 
forest.  It  was  by  no  means  easy  work  to  keep 
on.  The  underbrush  crackled  and  scratched 
the  children's  hands  and  feet  until  they  cried 
and  had  to  be  hushed.  Only  the  baby  Elizabeth 
would  not  be  silenced,  though  Mrs.  Dare  did  all 
she  could  to  soothe  her. 

"They  will  certainly  hear  her  and  find  us. 

67 


6S  VIRGINIA  BARE. 

We'll  be  all  scalped  if  you  carry  her  any 
farther,"  said  one  of  the  women. 

But  Mrs.  Dare's  answer  silenced  her.  "  If 
either  of  the  children  is  making  noise  enough 
to  endanger  you  all,  we  ought  not  to  remain 
together.  I  will  keep  behind  till  you  are  all 
safe." 

Mistress  Wilkins  was  just  behind,  carrying 
little  Martin  Harvey.  He  was  a  stout  child, 
really  too  heavy  a  load  for  the  poor  old  woman, 
yet  she  had  energy  enough  left  to  turn  savagely 
on  the  first  speaker.  "  You  ought  to  be  a  heathen 
savage  with  a  red  skin,"  she  said,  "  to  talk  of 
leaving  a  poor  motherless  baby  alone  in  the 
woods  for  the  wild  beasts.  I  wonder  the  Lord 
don't  send  some  of  them  out  to  tear  3^ou  to 
pieces.     You  are  no  Christian  woman." 

On,  on  they  went,  groping  their  way  through 
the  darkness,  often  stumbling,  sometimes  fall- 
ing, but  keeping  on  bravely,  carrying  the  chil- 
dren, and  helping  the  more  frightened  ones. 
Suddenly  they  came  to  a  clearing,  and  before 
them  stretched  the  great  ocean.  They  all  gath- 
ered close  together  under  the  old  trees  that 
shaded  even  the  very  edge  of  the  bank.  Then 
Howe  told  them  he  must  leave  them  while  he 
went  to  bring  the  boats.     Most  of  the  women 


VIRGINIA   DARE.  69 

I 
began  to  cry,  saying  they  surely  would  be  killed 

without  a  man  to  protect  them,  until  Eleanor 

Dare   said,   in   her   quiet,    decided  way,    "  Go, 

Howe,  we  are  quite  safe  here  among  the  trees 

and  bushes.     The  great  danger  will  be  when  we 

are  on  the  water." 

"  You  had  better  not  talk,  or  even  move  ;  and 
be  sure  you  do  not  answer  any  call,  or  speak  to 
any  one,  until  the  signal  of  a  low  whistle  is 
given,"  Howe  said  warningly,  as  he  disappeared 
into  the  forest. 

It  seemed  a  century  since  he  left  them  ;  it 
was  in  fact  only  about  thirty  minutes  before  they 
heard  his  whistle,  and  he  appeared  carrying  an 
end  of  one  of  the  boats.  Harvey  was  carrying 
the  other  end,  and  behind  them  came  two  men 
carrying  another.  Hopeful  Kent  was  one,  and 
he  was  grumbling  about  the  weight. 

The  boats  were  soon  launched,  the  women 
were  getting  in,  Howe  was  lifting  in  the  little 
ones,  when  suddenly  Hopeful  Kent  sprang  into 
the  nearest  boat  and  pushed  it  from  the  shore. 
"What  are  you  doing?"  cried  a  dozen  voices. 
He  only  pushed  the  harder,  muttering,  "  I  hear 
the  red  scoundrels  coming."  He  was  mistaken, 
however :  no  one  came,  but  they  could  not  per- 
suade him  to   come  back.     He  said  he  had  as 


70  VIRGINIA  DAEE. 

big  a  load  as  he  was  going  to  row,  and  was  soon 
out  of  sight. 

'*  I  dare  not  put  another  one  in,"  Harvey  said 
to  Howe,  as  the  small  boat  dipped  to  the  water's 
edge.  Mrs.  Dare,  who  had  refused  to  get  in  till 
all  were  settled,  still  stood  holding  the  two  babies, 
and  by  her  Patience  and  Mistress  Wilkins. 
Howe  looked  at  them  helplessly  for  a  moment, 
then  suddenly  exclaimed,  "  I  have  an  idea, 
Harvey !  you  and  Thompson  see  this  boat  safely 
to  Croatoan.  Tell  them  Mrs.  Dare  is  coming, 
and  that  it  will  be  all  right.  If  we  do  not  come, 
you  had  better  come  back  and  take  the  rest  of 
the  men.  I  am  going  to  try  to  steal  two  of  the 
canoes,  if  I  am  seen  and  caught,  they  will  have 
to  wait  for  you ;  be  sure  you  come  back."  The 
two  men  clasped  hands  for  a  moment,  and  the 
boat  slipped  silently  over  the  still  water.  Howe 
told  Mrs.  Dare  his  plan  ;  leaving  his  hat,  shoes, 
and  whatever  else  he  did  not  need,  he  scrambled 
along  the  bank  just  over  the  water.  Ver}^  soon 
he  could  see  the  palisade,  and  the  torch-light 
showed  the  Indians'  ugly  faces.  He  remembered 
Governor  White's  directions  about  the  name  of 
the  place  they  should  remove  to,  and  as  he 
reached  the  edge  of  the  little  bay,  he  drew  him- 
self up  to  a  tree,  and  taking  out  his  knife  began 


VIRGINIA  BAEE.  71 

to  carve  the  word  Cro-ato-AN  ;  but  only  three 
letters  were  done  when  he  noticed  a  commotion 
among  the  Indians,  and  fearing  to  be  seen,  he 
slipped  down  into  the  water.  It  was  strange 
that  the  Indians  had  left  the  canoes  unguarded, 
but  they  looked  upon  the  pale-faces  as  a  stupid 
race,  and  they  felt  so  sure  that  they  were  all 
enclosed  behind  the  palisade,  they  had  left  only 
one  man  to  watch  the  boats.  He  was  more 
interested  in  the  fight  than  in  his  duty,  and 
hearing  the  unusual  commotion  which  was 
caused  by  a  small  portion  of  the  palisade  giving 
way,  he  had  gone  up  the  bank  to  see  how  things 
were  going  on,  thus  leaving  the  canoes  un- 
guarded, ready  for  Howe  to  take  his  choice. 
Howe  swam  across  the  little  bay;  reaching  a 
small  tree,  he  drew  himself  up  by  it,  and  lying 
flat  on  the  ground  pulled  one  of  the  light 
canoes  towards  him,  and  pushed  it  into  the  water 
without  a  sound.  Then  came  the  thought,  if  all 
the  canoes  were  in  the  water  their  owners  could 
not  possibly  pursue  save  by  land.  It  required 
only  strength  and  caution,  both  of  which  Howe 
possessed.  Steadily  he  drew  down  first  one  and 
then  another,  till  all  but  one  canoe,  and  the  two 
largest  and  lightest,  which  he  had  decided  to 
take  for  Mrs.  Dare,  were  floating  away  silently 


72  VIRGINIA  BABE. 

on  the  smooth  water ;  then  he  carefully  brought 
to  the  water  his  chosen  two ;  the  other  lay 
among  dry  leaves  on  the  bank,  and  he  decided 
not  to  run  the  risk  of  its  rustling  betraying  him. 
Fastening  the  two  together,  he  stepped  into  one, 
and  let  the  tide  carry  him  far  out  before  he 
used  the  paddle  ;  no  one  had  seen  him,  or  heard 
a  sound.  The  Indians  always  believed  and 
declared  that  their  canoes  had  been  floated  away 
by  the  water  spirit,  who  was  angry  with  them, 
but  spared  their  medicine-man's  canoe,  which 
was  the  one  that  lay  among  the  leaves.  Howe 
was  pretty  well  worn  out  when  he  reached  the 
sheltered  spot  where  the  anxious  watchers  waited 
for  him.  He  told  them  of  his  adventure,  and 
that  he  felt  very  sure  the  palisade  could  hold 
out  only  a  little  while  longer,  and  that  he  was 
too  worn  out  to  paddle  them  to  Croatoan,  but  if 
they  would  wait  only  a  few  minutes  more,  he 
would  go  to  the  palisade  and  send  some  one 
to  them. 

"And  you,  Howe,"  Mrs.  Dare  asked,  "what 
will  become  of  3^ou  ?  " 

The  men  will  soon  need  a  place  to  hide  or 
retreat  to,  then  I  will  biing  them  here.  Thomp- 
son and  Harvey  will  come  back  for  us."  He 
had  hardly  finished  speaking  before  he  was 
gone,  and  they  sat  quietly  waiting. 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  73 

Who  would  come,  and  when?  The  mo- 
ments rolled  on  like  hours.  The  night  wind 
sighed  in  the  pines  till  it  seemed  like  a  human 
moan.  A  great  cry  suddenly  pierced  the  still- 
ness; it  was  from  the  Indians,  and  yet  it  was 
not  their  war-whoop,  rather  a  mournful  cry. 
It  sounded  again  and  again,  and  then  died 
away. 

"Either  they  have  discovered  the  canoes  are 
gone,  or  they  have  broken  down  the  palisade; 
you  can  rarely  tell  whether  they  are  sorry  or 
glad,"  Mrs.  Dare  said. 

'*If  it  is  their  canoes,"  said  Mistress  Wilkins, 
"  they  will  come  along  the  shore  for  them,  and 
we  shall  surely  be  found." 

"  Let  us  still  hope  and  pray,"  Mi-s.  Dare  said 
feebly. 

"  Hark !  "  whispered  Patience,  "  I  am  sure  I 
hear  some  one  coming."  The  twigs  were  crack- 
ing and  the  underbrush  breaking.  It  was  not 
Howe's  decided  step  either.  No,  nor  was  it 
Howe's  voice  that  said,  "Mrs.  Dare,  your  father 
left  me  in  his  place,  to  guide  and  govern  his 
people.  As  none  of  them  wish  me  to  do  either 
at  present,  I  am  sure  he  would  say  my  duty  was 
with  you.  Howe  says  we  must  go  off  at 
once." 


74  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

She  thanked  him  as  he  helped  Mistress  Wil- 
kins  and  Patience  into  one  canoe,  and  herself 
and  the  two  babies  into  the  other. 

"  The  tide  runs  directly  to  Croatoan,  so  we  can 
float  most  of  the  way  without  paddling,"  Gage 
said,  as  the  canoes,  fastened  together,  floated 
quietly  away  from  the  shore  into  the  stillness 
and  darkness  of  night. 

Howe,  after  leaving  the  little  party  on  the 
shore,  went  back  to  the  palisade  ;  he  found  the 
men  fighting  like  true  Englishmen,  but  he  man- 
aged to  explain  to  Gage  the  condition  of  the 
women ;  and  then,  after  seeing  him  safely  off, 
he  went  to  work  with  a  will:  every  one  was 
needed. 

The  palisade  was  fast  giving  away,  several 
large  holes  were  plainly  to  be  seen ;  the  Indians 
were  fighting  with  all  the  power  of  their  wild, 
savage  nature.  If  they  once  got  through  the 
palisade,  every  white  man  must  die;  then  he 
thought  of  the  women  and  children,  and  won- 
dered if  Manteo  would  receive  them  kindly,  or 
if  he  would  resent  Ranteo's  treatment.  As  he 
fought  and  tried  to  encourage  the  men,  his 
thoughts  ran  on  quickly.  He  thought  of  the 
future,  and  Governor  White's  return ;  who  would 
tell  him  where  to  find  what  was  left  of  the 


VIRGINIA  BARE.  75 

little  colony  ?  surely  the  three  letters  on  the  tree 
over  the  little  bay  would  not.  He  slipped 
down  from  his  place,  having  just  thrown  over 
his  adversary  whom  he  was  fighting  with  hand 
to  hand.  Opening  his  pocket-knife,  he  found  a 
large  tree  that  would  be  easily  seen,  stripped 
the  bark  off  about  five  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  on  the  smooth  surface  he  carved  in  clear, 
old  English  characters,  Croatoan.  He  had 
just  finished  the  "  n,"  when  a  sudden  pain  made 
him  lose  his  hold  on  the  branch.  He  tried  to 
raise  himself  to  put  the  cross  over  the  word,  as 
the  governor  had  said  to  do  if  in  danger  or  dis- 
tress, but  he  could  not  move.  He  could  only 
lie  there  listening  to  the  cries  and  war-whoops, 
and  now  and  then  a  groan  from  a  dying  or 
wounded  man.  Above  all,  he  could  hear  the 
sad  call  of  the  night  heron ;  he  could  see  that 
the  Indians  had  broken  away  the  palisade  and 
were  rushing  in.  How  many  seconds  before 
they  would  find  him,  he  wondered.  The  vision 
of  a  gray  stone  church  across  the  sea  came  before 
him,  where  he  had  learned  from  his  very  baby- 
hood the  truths  and  lessons  which  had  made 
him  a  blessing  and  a  credit  to  his  country,  and 
enabled  him  to  lie  there  now  facing  death  with- 
out a  fear.    He  thought  of  the  dear  old  face  of 


76  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

his  rector,  remembered  his  last  words  at  parting, 
and  the  promise  of  his  prayers.  "  Such  prayers 
must  be  heard  on  high,"  he  muttered.  "I  have 
forgotten  many  of  his  holy  teachings,  but  the 
dear  Lord  will  be  merciful  and  forgiving.  He 
will,  he  will." 

An  Indian  was  coming  very  near ;  but  what 
was  that  cry  ?  It  came  from  the  Indians  that 
were  outside  the  palisade.  Those  who  had 
forced  their  way  in  seemed  to  be  retreating. 
He  longed  to  ask,  but  there  was  no  one  near 
enough.  Presently  all  became  still,  except  for 
the  low,  sad  wail  that  came  from  the  outside. 
The  white  men  were  evidently  astonished,  but 
were  taking  advantage  of  the  lull  to  patch  up 
the  palisade. 

Presently  a  man  came  near,  and  asked,  "  Who 
are  you.?  "  Howe  answered,  asking  at  the  same 
time,  "  What  has  stopped  the  fight  ?  " 

"  That's  more  than  we  can  tell,"  was  the  reply. 
"  It's  something  on  the  shore,  though ;  some- 
thing makes  them  think  their  gods  are  angry, 
for  they  have  stopped  fighting,  and  are  offering 
gifts  and  dancing  dances  to  one  of  their  spirits. 
It  is  a  good  thing  for  us,  anyway." 

"Put  any  of  the  Indians  that  have  been 
wounded  or  killed  outside,  then  come  back  to 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  77 

me,"  said  Howe,  "and  I  will  tell  you  some- 
thing." 

After  half  an  hour  the  man,  came  back,  and 
three  others  with  him. 

"  Are  you  hurt  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Yes,"  said  Howe,  "  it's  an  arrow  just  above 
my  shoulder,  I  think,  but  it  is  broken  off." 

The  men  could  feel  the  end  of  the  arrow, 
and  with  great  difficulty,  and  causing  him  much 
pain,  they  drew  it  out. 

"  How  are  our  men  ?  "  he  asked,  as  soon  as  he 
could  speak. 

"  It's  hard  to  tell  exactly,  but  they're  mostly 
all  wounded  more  or  less,  and  there  are  thirteen 
killed,"  was  the  answer. 

"  We  must  not  stay  here :  we  cannot  tell  what 
those  savages  will  do  next ;  but  first,  we  must 
hide  Governor  White's  boxes,"  said  Howe. 

There  was  a  little  silence,  then  one  of  the 
men  said,  "  We  might  as  well  tell  you  the  worst, 
you  have  got  to  come  to  it.  We're  all  sorry, 
but  it  can't  be  helped.  There  wasn't  one  among 
'em  like  my  old  woman,  'Ilda,  though  the 
'eathen  dogs  have  done  away  with  every  woman 
and  child  we  'ad." 

Howe  almost  laughed  as  he  replied,  "  I  was 
the  heathen  dog.     I  helped  them  to  go  to  Croa- 


78  VIRGINIA  VAEE. 

toan,  where  we  must  go  as  soon  as  possible. 
That's  what  happened  to  the  Indians  in  the 
middle  of  fighting;  they  must  have  suddenly 
discovered  that  their  canoes  were  gone,  and,  I 
dare  say,  thought  some  of  their  gods  had  spirited 
them  away." 

"  Thank  'eaven,  thank  'eaven ! "  cried  the 
first  speaker,  falling  on  his  knees.  "  Thank 
'eaven  for  my  Tlda !  " 

They  saw  that  Howe  was  exhausted,  and  left 
him  resting  on  the  ground  while  they  went  to 
work.  An  hour  later  Governor  White's  trunks 
were  buried,  and  all  the  little  treasures  they 
could  carry  were  packed  in  bundles,  and  all  was 
made  ready  to  leave  Roanoke. 

Howe  and  Barnes  were  both  too  seriously 
wounded  to  walk ;  they  were  laid  on  rude  biers 
and  carried.  The  dead  men  had  been  buried ; 
others,  who  were  only  slightly  wounded,  walked, 
though  in  more  or  less  pain.  The  way  through 
the  forest  was  a  rough  one,  but  their  courage 
kept  them  up.  At  last  the  bank  was  reached, 
and  in  a  sheltered  hiding-place  they  found 
Thomson  and  Harvey  waiting  with  the  largest 
boat;  the  other,  they  said,  had  not  reached 
Croatoan  when  they  left.     They  had  also  sev- 


VIRGINIA   DARE.  79 

eral  of  the  floating  canoes,  which  they  had  cap- 
tured on  their  way  back.  As  day  dawned,  they 
found  all  that  remained  of  the  English  colony 
on  the  shores  of  Croatoan,  waiting  to  see  how 
the  chief  Manteo  would  treat  them. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"She  had  eyes  of  sunniest  English  blue; 
She  had  tresses  of  golden  hair ; 
Her  cheeks  were  tipped  with  the  hawthorn's  hue ; 
Her  name,  Virginia  Dare." 

Manteo,  true  to  the  faith  he  professed,  for- 
gave and  forgot,  or  rather  he  never  spoke  of  his 
warning,  or  Ranteo's  strange  visit  to  Roanoke  ; 
when  he  understood  that  the  white  tribe  were 
in  trouble,  and  had  fled  to  him  for  protection, 
he  solemnly  held  out  his  hand  to  Mrs.  Dare, 
then  handed  her  a  long  pipe,  seeming  to  take  it 
for  granted  that  she  filled  her  father's  place. 
She  went  bravely  at  it  for  a  few  minutes  in  sight 
of  all  Manteo's  warriors,  who  watched  her  with  a 
strange  awe  ;  then  he  took  the  pipe  from  her 
and  led  her  to  a  wigwam,  where  she  was  to  stay 
while  the  refugees  were  provided  for  by  the 
Indians. 

The  autumn  days  slipped  by,  and  the  winter 
came.  It  was  a  mild  winter,  even  for  that  part 
of  the  country;  and  as  it  broke,  and  the  first 
mild,  balmy  spring  days  came,  the  settlers  began 

83 


84  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

to  watch  for  the  governor's  return.  Day  after 
day  they  looked,  but  the  mild  spring  melted 
into  the  heat  of  summer,  and  yet  he  did  not 
come. 

Hopeful  Kent  and  his  boat-load  that  left 
Roanoke  in  such  a  hurry  that  night  had  never 
been  seen  or  even  heard  of;  they  had  either 
been  drowned,  or  captured  by  Wanchese's  men. 
Autumn  again  began  to  paint  the  trees  yellow 
and  red,  yet  no  sign  of  a  sail ;  the  men  were 
growing  discontented,  and  gave  up  watching  for 
the  ships  they  would  never  see,  and  went  more 
ardently  at  their  grumbling. 

One  night,  nearly  fifteen  months  after  Gov- 
ernor White  and  his  fleet  had  left  the  shore  of 
Virginia,  the  men's  discontent,  which  had  been 
smouldering  like  a  choked  fire,  burst  into  a 
blaze  of  defiant  rebellion,  and  on  that  same  night 
they  slipped  away  in  the  darkness.  Sixty  of 
the  men  whom  Manteo  had  sheltered  and  cared 
for  more  than  a  year  went  to  Wanchese.  Barnes 
was  the  leader  in  this,  as  in  the  former  troubles  ; 
but  he  did  not  tell  the  men  all  he  meant  to  do ; 
he  knew  them  too  well  to  expect  them  to  agree 
to  anything  so  base  as  this  plan.  In  truth,  he 
meant  to  betray  Manteo.  Wanchese  listened 
to  his  proposal  ^vith  disdain  and  distrust,  then 


VIRGINIA  DABE.  85 

he  cried,  "  Such  a  dog  shall  not  live  I "  and  with 
a  blow  of  his  tomahawk  Barnes  fell  dead. 
Many  of  the  men  were  killed,  others  were 
branded  and  kept  as  slaves. 

Life  was  more  quiet  and  peaceful  after  the 
discontented  were  gone.  Of  course  there  were 
sad  hearts  among  the  women  and  children  for 
a  while,  for  some  had  lost  husbands  and  fathers. 
The  weaker  ones  broke  down  utterly  with  the 
life  of  exposure  and  hardship.  More  than  one 
grave  had  been  made  ;  the  Indians  looking  on  in 
awe  and  wonder  at  the  Christian  burial.  Mrs. 
Dare  had  learned  many  Indian  words,  and  in  a 
quiet  way  she  had  done  much  for  the  neglected 
women  and  children,  for  there  were  such  among 
those  poor  savages,  as  there  are  to-day  in  our 
own  civilized  towns  and  villages ;  and  in  that 
way  she  won  not  only  their  hearts,  but  the 
hearts  of  the  men  also.  There  is  no  surer  way 
in  the  world  to  a  man's  heart  than  through  his 
children. 

All  this  time  the  baby  Virginia  grew.  The 
soft  down  on  her  round  head  had  clianged 
to  a  halo  of  golden  curls.  Her  eyes  had 
grown  large  and  deep  like  the  sea;  some- 
times a  sparkling,  laughing  blue,  and  sometimes 
almost  a  gray  when  a  cloud  of  sorrow  crept 


86  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

across  her  little  horizon.  She  was  not  afraid 
of  anything,  and  nothing  seemed  to  harm  her. 
The  cold  rain  or  the  hot  sun  never  made  her 
ill ;  she  seemed  to  open  like  a  flower,  gaining 
strength  and  beauty  from  all  that  nature  gave. 
One  day  when  swinging  in  her  willow  cradle 
under  the  blue  sky,  laughing  and  playing  with 
her  toes,  as  children  do,  the  old  woman  or 
mother  of  the  tribe,  bent  and  wrinkled,  browned 
and  weather-beaten,  came  slowly  up  the  hill 
with  several  of  the  squaws.  Patience  sat  on 
the  ground  holding  the  baby  Elizabeth,  who,  as 
soon  as  she  saw  the  old  squaw,  gave  a  wild  cry 
of  fear,  and  buried  her  face  on  Patience's 
shoulder,  moaning  and  sobbing.  The  old 
woman  shook  her  head,  and  passed  on  to  the 
willow  cradle.  Little  Virginia  looked  up  at 
the  ugly  old  face  for  some  time,  as  if  she  were 
studying  it.  Then  she  stretched  out  her  tiny 
white  hands  with  a  pretty  baby  laugh.  The 
squaw  bent  over  the  cradle ;  Virginia  cooed  and 
smoothed  the  brown,  wrinkled  cheek ;  a  murmur 
of  delight  passed  through  the  group  of  Indian 
women.  Mrs.  Dare,  who  had  come  to  the  door 
of  the  wigwam,  lifted  the  baby  from  its  cradle, 
and  tried  to  put  her  in  the  old  Indian's  arms ; 
but  she  drew  back,  clasping  her  hands  and  mut- 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  87 

tering  as  she  looked  up  towards  the  sky.  The 
other  squaws  acted  in  the  same  way.  Ran- 
teo,  who  had  just  come  up,  explained  to  Mrs. 
Dare  that  his  people  had  never  seen  a  papoose 
with  blue  eyes  before,  and  they  would  not  touch 
it,  for  they  thought  it  must  be  a  spirit.  From 
that  day  Virginia  received  presents  of  all  kinds, 
from  the  skin  of  a  bison  to  the  wing  of  an  eagle. 
Her  baby  clothes  were  worn  out  long  ago,  and 
she  lay  wrapped  in  skins,  like  any  papoose. 

She  was  a  little  more  than  a  year  and  a  half 
old  when  Howe  went  with  Gage  to  see  if  there 
was  any  sign  of  Governor  White's  fleet.  They 
never  came  back.  Life  went  on  quietly  at  Croa- 
toan.  The  men  went  to  their  hunt,  or,  in  their 
gaudy  paint  and  war  toggery,  went  to  fight. 
The  women  beat  out  their  vessels,  or  wove  bas- 
kets, and  dried  skins.  The  children  played 
at  their  sham  wars,  or  went  on  their  imaginary 
hunts,  or  sang  their  songs  full  of  myths  and 
mysteries. 

The  summer  that  Virginia  was  three  years  old, 
she  was  playing  under  the  willow-trees  outside 
the  wigwam  with  little  Elizabeth,  whom  she 
had  nicknamed  Beth,  and  whom  she  was  truly 
fond  of ;  the  only  one  in  the  world  who  loved 
the  fretful,  delicate  child  with  a  love  that  was 


88  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

not  mingled  with  pity.  They  were  playing 
quietly  together,  when  a  squaw,  holding  a  little 
boy  by  the  hand,  came  near  and  stood  watching 
them.  Beth  at  once  stopped  playing  and  began 
to  cry,  while  Virginia  smiled  at  the  little  boy, 
who  was  several  years  her  senior,  and  held  out 
her  hand,  saying,  "  Will  you  come  play  ?  "  He 
came  to  her,  but  stood  more  like  a  soldier  on 
duty  than  a  child  ready  for  play.  The  two 
looked  curiously  at  each  other  for  several  mo- 
ments. The  boy,  pointing  to  Virginia's  great 
blue  eyes  and  then  to  the  blue  bird  he  held 
in  his  hand,  exclaimed,  "Owaissa!  Owaissa!" 
then  he  laid  the  bird  on  her  golden  curls ;  and 
when,  after  a  long  play,  he  went  away,  the 
squaw  who  had  charge  of  him  urged  him  to 
take  the  bird  back,  for  it  was  the  most  loved  of 
all  his  toys.  He  shook  his  head  and  angrily  re- 
fused. He  was  Iosco,  Manteo's  son ;  and  after 
that  he  came  often  to  the  willow-tree  and  played 
with  Owaissa,  as  he  called  her.  As  she  grew 
older  and  was  able  to  play  with  Iosco  and  the 
other  Indian  children,  she  was  known  among 
them  only  as  Owaissa. 

yirginia  was  nearly  six  when  Mrs.  Dare  be- 
gan to  give  up  all  hopes  of  seeing  the  English 
ships  that  were  to  bring  her  husband  and  father. 


VIRGINIA  BARE.  89 

The  hard,  rough  life  of  exposure  had  made 
great  changes  in  the  young  and  beautiful  woman 
who  had  sailed  from  England  a  happy  bride  only 
a  little  more  than  seven  years  before.  She 
looked  twenty  years  older ;  her  wavy  brown 
hair  was  gray ;  her  complexion  was  burnt  and 
sallow.  She  lived  only  for  her  little  daughter, 
and  what  good  she  could  do  among  the  poor 
heathen,  who  fairly  worshipped  her.  She  had 
taught  Virginia  to  read.  When  six  years  old, 
the  child  knew  all  the  old  familiar  Bible  stories, 
and  she  could  sing  many  of  the  old  hymns  and 
and  psalms.  Thus  the  education  of  the  first 
American-born  child  slowly  progressed. 

The  squaw  who  waited  on  Iosco,  whose  name 
was  Adwa,  was  very  fond  of  both  children :  her 
own,  she  said,  had  all  gone  to  the  Happy  Hunt- 
ing Ground.  She  would  tell  them  stories  by 
the  hour,  while  the  three  children  sat  listening 
breathlessly,  for  Virginia  always  insisted  upon 
bringing  Beth  in  for  whatever  was  going  on. 
As  the  squaw  sat  and  parched  the  corn,  she 
would  tell  them  of  Mondamin,  and  how  the 
young  Indian  fasted  and  prayed  for  no  selfish 
purpose,  but  for  the  profit  of  his  people ;  and 
how  he  wrestled  with  and  conquered  Mondamin, 
because  of  his  prayer  to  the  Great  Spirit.     Or 


90  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

as  they  sat  by  the  water  she  would  tell  them 
how  the  Puk-Wudjie  fed  the  great  fish,  or  how 
they  killed  Kwasind.  Or  they  would  watch  the 
clouds  clear  away  after  a  storm,  and  Adwa 
would  tell  them  how  the  little  flowers  that  died 
on  earth  bloomed  again  in  the  rainbow.  As 
they  sat  in  the  grov/ing  darkness,  watching  the 
little  fire-flies,  she  taught  them  the  Indian 
children's  good-night  song  :  — 

"  Fire-fly,  fire-fly,  bright  little  thing, 
Light  me  to  bed,  and  my  song  I  will  sing! 
Give  me  your  light  as  you  fly  o'er  my  head, 
That  I  may  merrily  go  to  my  bed. 
Give  me  your  light,  o'er  the  grass  as  you  creep. 
That  I  may  joyfully  go  to  my  sleep. 
Come,  little  fire-fly,  come,  little  beast, 
Come,  and  I'll  make  you  to-morrow  a  feast. 
Come,  little  candle,  that  flies  as  I  sing. 
Bright  little  fairy-bug,  night's  little  king. 
Come,  and  I'll  dance  as  you  guide  me  along, 
Come,  and  I'll  pay  you,  my  bug,  with  a  song  !" 

Beth  could  not  learn  the  song ;  in  fact,  she 
had  learned  very  little  of  the  Indian  language, 
w^liile  Virginia  spoke  it  quite  as  well  as  English. 
In  return  for  Adwa's  tales  of  Indian  lore,  Vir- 
ofinia  would  often  tell  the  Bible  stories  she  loved 
so  well,  old  fables,  or  wonderful  fairy  tales ;  she 
even  taught  Iosco  her  favorite  hymn.     In  this 


VIRGINIA  BABE.  91 

way  the  first  six  years  of  her  life  were  passed, 
and  her  intellect  and  imagination  were  devel- 
oped. In  the  same  proportion  she  gained 
strength  and  vigor  from  the  active  games  of 
the  Indian  children.  She  could  climb  a  tree  as 
nimbly  as  a  squirrel,  keep  up  with  any  child  of 
her  own  size  in  the  race,  scramble  down  a  steep 
cliff,  or  run  over  a  narrow  bridge  formed  only 
of  a  branch,  as  if  she  were  in  truth  an  Owaissa. 
Her  life  was  light-hearted  and  sunny :  no  cloud 
of  sorrow  had  yet  obscured  its  baby  brightness. 
But  a  dark  cloud  was  fast  gathering.  Even 
when  the  cloud  had  broken  away,  the  sun  would 
never  again  be  as  bright  as  it  had  been  before. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


?  J 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

"  O  the  long  and  dreary  winter  I 
O  the  cold  and  cruel  winter ! 
Ever  thicker,  thicker,  thicker 
Froze  the  ice  on  lake  and  river, 
Ever  deeper,  deeper,  deeper 
Fell  the  snow  o'er  all  the  landscape." 
4  /  iS  ii    ^  '  Longfellow. 

The  winter  after  Virginia  was  seven  years 
old  was  one  which  could  never  be  forgotten  by 
those  who  lived  through  it.  The  snow  fell 
thick  and  fast  for  days  together.  Then  came  a 
cold  wind,  which  blew  until  the  streams  were 
frozen  like  iron,  and  the  great  snow  mounds 
became  as  mountains  of  shining  metal.  The 
wind  sang  dirges  among  the  leafless  trees ;  the 
hunters  went  out  day  after  day,  and  returned 
empty-handed;  the  forest  seemed  deserted  by 
all  living  things.  The  childi-en  cried  for  food, 
and  not  getting  it,  sickened  and  died.  The 
women  made  fires  and  offered  gifts  to  the  Great 
Spirit  of  the  Hunt.  Manteo  and  his  Christian 
people  offered  prayers  daily.  But  all  appeared 
to  be  of  no  avail. 

95 


96  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

Mrs.  Dare  was  lying  on  her  tussan  of  skins, 
and  Virginia  kneeling  by  her,  with  her  arms 
tightly  round  her  mother's  neck.  They  were 
talking  as  they  often  did  together.  Virginia 
was  saying,  "But,  mamma,  v^hj  does  God  send 
trouble  and  sorrow  and  pain  to  us  if  he  really 
loves  us  ?  " 

"  It  is  just  because  he  does  love  us,  darling, 
that  he  sends  us  soitow  to  lead  us  to  love 
him,"  was  the  gentle  reply. 

"  But,  mamma,  dearest,  you  love  God,  yet  he 
sends  you  so  much  pain.  And  you  have  not 
enough  to  eat,  either.  It  cannot  be  to  make 
you  love  him,"  said  Virginia. 

"  Yes,  my  darling ;  we  may  love  him  all  our 
lives,  and  yet  not  give  him  all  the  love  we  owe 
him.  He  never  sends  a  pain  or  sorrow  that  is 
not  for  our  good,  though  we  cannot  always 
knov/  why  it  is.  When  you  were  a  very  little 
girl,  almost  a  baby,  and  your  gums  were  so  sore, 
it  was  because  I  loved  you  and  v/anted  to  save 
you  from  pain  that  I  lanced  the  sore  place  and 
gave  you  great  pain  just  for  a  moment.  You 
could  not  understand  why  then,  even  if  I  had 
explained  it  to  you,  but  you  never  doubted  my 
love.  You  knew  I  would  not  hurt  you  un- 
necessarily.    We  must  trust  God  in  the  same 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  97 

way,  dear,  for  he  loves  us  even  more  than  I 
love  you." 

"  O  mamma !  you  make  me  good ;  when  I  am 
with  you  I  can  do  anything.  I  don't  even  mind 
being  hungry ; "  and  Virginia's  great  blue  eyes 
were  full  of  tears  as  she  looked  into  her  mother's 
face. 

"  Darling,  you  must  learn  to  be  good  without 
me ;  we  may  not  always  be  together,  you 
know." 

Mrs.  Dare  spoke  with  so  much  feeling  that 
Virginia  started  and  looked  pained.  But  before 
she  could  speak,  the  skin  that  hung  in  front  of 
the  doorway  was  drawn  aside,  and  Manteo  came 
in.  He  sat  down,  with  bowed  head,  and  with- 
out speaking  a  word.  Virginia,  who  liad  learned 
to  love  him,  sat  quietly  at  first.  She  knew  he 
must  be  in  very  great  trouble  over  the  suffer- 
ings of  his  people,  and  her  loving  heart  was  full 
of  sympathy. 

At  last  she  crept  softly  to  him,  and  laid  her 
curly  head  on  his  brown  hand.  Her  eyes  told 
more  than  words  could  express.  With  a  great 
effort  he  raised  his  head. 

"  The  Great  Spirit,  the  mighty  Werowance, 
has  forgotten  us,  or  he  is  angry.  The  people 
die,  and  there  is  no  food.     Manteo's  own  child 


98  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

Iosco  has  the  curse.  There  is  no  food  to  give 
him  ;  he  must  die." 

"  No  ! "  cried  Virginia,  "  God  will  not  let 
Iosco  die.  Have  you  asked  him  for  food  for 
Iosco,  Werowance  Manteo?  I  know  he  will 
save  him." 

"All  night,"  replied  Manteo,  "under  the  stars 
on  the  cold  snow  did  Manteo  talk  with  God. 
But  he  would  not  hear  him." 

Mrs.  Dare  had  risen.  Manteo  could  not  fail 
to  notice  how  frail  and  ill  she  looked,  as  she 
came  toward  him.  She  drew  the  skin  that  lay- 
over the  couch  around  her  as  she  said,  "  Manteo, 
take  me  to  Iosco  !  " 

He  sprang  up,  a  gleam  of  hope  in  his  dark 
eyes.  "  Will  the  lady  go  to  Iosco  ?  "  he  cried. 
"  Will  she  ask  the  Great  Spirit  to  save  the  boy's 
life  ?  Her  god  will  hear  her  voice,  though  it  be 
soft  as  a  morning  breeze  in  the  budding  time." 

They  passed  out  into  the  biting  wind,  the  tall 
chief  bowed  with  grief,  the  delicate  English 
lady,  and  the  sweet  child  with  golden  hair,  and 
walked  over  the  frozen  snow  to  Manteo's  wig- 
w^am.  Mrs.  Dare  bent  over  Iosco  as  he  lay  on 
a  tussan  of  balsam  on  the  floor  of  the  wigwam, 
restless  witli  fever.  She  stroked  the  dark  hair 
back  from  the  flushed  forehead,  and  then  turn- 


VIRGINIA  BABE.  99 

ing  to  Virginia,  said  in  English,  "  Go  and  ask 
Mistress  Wilkins  to  give  you  the  red  herbs,  and 
bring  them  to  me  quickly,  dear." 

Virginia  flew  over  the  snow,  and  returned 
with  the  herbs  in  a  small  iron  pot  that  had  been 
brought  from  Roanoke,  before  the  squaws 
crouching  around  the  wigwam  thought  she  had 
time  even  to  reach  Mistress  "Wilkins.  Mrs. 
Dare  stirred  up  the  fire  which  was  smouldering 
on  the  floor  of  the  wigwam,  prepared  the  herbs 
carefully,  and  boiled  them  in  the  iron  pot.  Poor 
Iosco  lay  gasping,  delirious,  and  exhausted. 
Manteo  thought  he  was  dying,  and  caught  Mrs. 
Dare's  hand  almost  fiercely  as  he  cried,  "Ask 
the  Great  Spirit !     Oh,  ask  him  quickly !  " 

She  knelt  down  quietly  by  the  poor  boy,  Vir- 
ginia knelt  too,  and  all  followed  their  example. 
There  had  been  regular  hours  for  prayer  before 
Howe  and  Gage  had  been  lost ;  since  then,  all 
were  welcome  who  cared  to  come  to  Mrs.  Dare's 
wigwam  for  devotions.  She  felt  keenly  a 
woman's  dislike  to  put  herself  conspicuously 
before  the  world,  even  though  it  were  a  little 
heathen  world;  but  she  had  taught  them  a 
great  deal  in  a  quiet  way.  They  felt  she  was 
their  friend;  they  knew  and  loved  her.  And 
now  with  her  simple  words  of   prayer  every 


100  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

heart  in  that  rude  cabin  was  lifted  to  the  great 
Father  above.  Mrs.  Dare  gave  Iosco  the  herb- 
tea  that  had  been  simmering  over  the  fire.  The 
hot  di'aught  and  her  gentle  ministration  soothed 
the  poor  boy,  and  he  fell  into  a  quiet  sleep. 
Manteo  still  knelt  on  the  floor.  When  he  saw 
his  boy  sleeping  sweetly,  he  exclaimed,  "The 
Father  is  great  and  good,  but  he  is  angry  with 
the  redman,  and  will  not  hear  his  voice.  Only 
the  voices  of  the  Blue-eyes  reach  his    camp." 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  said  Mrs.  Dare  earnestly.  "  Oh, 
no,  Werowance  Manteo!  The  great  Father 
loves  us  all,  and  he  hears  your  prayers  as  soon 
as  you  speak.  Ask  him  now  to  guide  you,  and 
go  to  the  forest  and  hunt,  for  Iosco  must  have 
something  to  strengthen  him  when  he  awakes." 

"Will  the  white  lady  speak  to  the  Great 
Spirit  for  Manteo  while  he  goes  and  hunts?" 
he  asked. 

"I  will,  indeed,"  she  replied.  And  Manteo 
silently  took  his  bow  and  arrows  and  left  the 
wigwam. 

For  hours  Iosco  slept  peacefully.  At  sunset 
his  father  returned,  to  the  great  joy  and  delight 
of  every  one,  bringing  with  him  the  flesh  of  a 
young  bear.  Mrs.  Dare  prepared  a  dainty  dish, 
and  told  Virginia  to  give  Iosco  a  little  when  he 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  101 

first  awakened,  and  to  come  and  tell  her  how  he 
was ;  that  she  was  going  back  to  her  own  wig- 
wam for  a  while.  Virginia  was  a  very  sensible 
little  woman  for  only  seven  years  old.  She  was 
born  with  the  rare  and  blessed  gift  of  a  true 
nurse ;  and  though  there  were  five  squaws  in 
the  wigwam,  they  let  her  sit  close  to  the  patient, 
feeling  that  she  had  a  sort  of  supernatural 
power.  They  w^ere  afraid  when  her  mother 
went  away ;  but,  as  Iosco  grew  no  worse,  they 
decided  Virginia  must  have  the  same  power 
with  the  Great  Spirit.  When  at  last  Iosco 
stirred  and  opened  his  eyes,  one  of  them  handed 
Virginia  the  food,  that  her  hand  might  put  it  to 
his  lips.  He  smiled  at  her  as  he  took  a  little  of 
the  food,  and  then  he  went  to  sleep  again.  She 
slipped  away  to  tell  her  mother  the  good  news 
that  Iosco  was  certainly  better.  Virginia  stepped 
out  of  the  wigwam  into  the  cold  night  air.  How 
the  wind  howled  I  The  silver  moonlight  lay  on 
everything,  making  the  world  in  its  white  wind- 
ing-sheet ghastly  enough.  The  cold  desolation 
seemed  to  freeze  Virginia's  heart.  She  shud- 
dered as  she  ran  on.  Here  was  Beth  coming  to 
meet  her.  "  Dear  Beth,  how  good  you  are  to 
come  !  Iosco  is  better.  But  what's  the  matter  ?  " 
she  asked,  as  Beth  drew  her  toward  the  light 


102  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

that  shone  from  the  wigwam.  Mistress  Wilkins 
was  there,  and  two  old  squaws,  she  saw  as  she 
reached  the  doorway.  And  her  mother,  where 
was  she  ?  A  cry  broke  from  Virginia  as  she 
saw  her  lying  white  and  motionless  on  the  bed. 
She  threw  herself  on  her  knees,  and  laying  her 
head  on  her  mother's  breast  she  cried  ascain  and 
again,  "  Mamma,  dearest  mamma !  Oh,  speak 
to  me  just  once,  your  own  little  girl.  Open 
your  eyes,  please !  Do  look  at  me,  oh,  please, 
mamma." 

But  the  still,  calm  face  lay  against  the  black 
robe,  in  that  peace  which  sorrow  or  pain  alike 
are  powerless  to  disturb. 

A  hemorrhage  had  come  on  just  after  she  had 
left  Iosco.  She  never  spoke  again,  but  lay  with 
folded  hands  till  the  angel  of  death  closed  her 
eyes  forever.     Virginia  was  alone. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

**  To  cure  heartache  is  godfather  Time's  business,  and  even 
he  is  not  invariably  successful."  —  J.  H.  Ewing. 

When  great  sorrow  comes  to  us  in  youth,  we 
feel  it  must  affect  and  change  the  whole  world; 
but  when  we  have  lived  longer  in  this  change- 
able world,  we  take  it  for  granted  that  the 
whirl  of  life  will  go  on  as  usual,  only  we  our- 
selves drop  out  for  a  little  while,  to  fight  with 
our  heartache  alone,  and  to  conquer  it,  with 
God's  help,  ere  we  take  up  the  busy  thread  of 
our  life  again  with  placid  faces,  just  as  if  our 
thread  and  shuttle  were  as  bright  and  beautiful 
as  before ;  and  perhaps  when  all  our  work  looks 
gray  to  us,  we  are  weaving  the  most  perfect  and 
beautiful  pattern. 

Poor  little  Virginia  had  never  thought  of  life 
without  her  mother,  until  that  conversation 
which  Manteo  had  interrupted;  and  then  her 
mind  was  so  full  of  Iosco's  sickness  that  she  did 
not  think  of  her  mother's  words  again  until  that 

105 


ti,if.=^>*^' 


106  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

dreadful  moment  came  when  she  called  and 
called,  and  no  answer  came  from  those  still  lips, 
and  she  knew  that  her  mother  would  never  hold 
her  in  her  arms  again  and  kiss  her.  Everything 
went  on  just  as  before,  except  that  the  frost 
soon  changed  to  a  thaw,  game  became  more 
plentiful,  and  the  suffering  less.  But  not  so 
Virginia's  sorrow:  it  was  so  deep  and  intense 
for  a  while,  Mistress  Wilkins  thought  it  would 
wear  her  young  life  out.  Beth  was  her  great 
comfort  through  this  lonely  time:  she  was  one 
to  love,  one  who  really  needed  her,  and  the  two 
children  truly  loved  each  other.  Iosco  grew 
quite  strong  after  a  time :  he  never  forgot  what 
Mrs.  Dare  had  done  for  him,  and  that  it  was  in 
saving  his  life  she  had  hastened  her  own  death. 
He  had  always  been  fond  of  Virginia,  and  now 
his  love  was  mingled  with  gratitude.  There 
was  hardly  an  hour  of  the  day  he  did  not  bring 

^>1  some  little  offering  for  "Owaissa,"  or  tell  her 
stories,  or  sing  songs  to  her.     Time  softens  the 

s  greatest  and  sharpest  sorrow.  Let  us  thank 
God  for  it :  we  should  die  were  it  not  so. 
Though  Virginia's  heart  was  nearly  broken  by 
her  mother's  death,  and  she  wished  that  she  too 
,  .  might  die,  she  did  not  die,  but  took  her  life  up 
bravely   after  a  while;    helping  those   among 


VIRGINIA  BARE.  107 

whom  she  lived  and  whom  she  really  loved; 
gathering  flowers  and  forest  treasures  in  the 
summer ;  watching  the  birds  build  their  nests, 
and  the  trees  put  on  their  pretty  dresses  in 
budding-time  ;  helping  in  the  work,  and  play- 
ing merry  games  through  roasting-ear  time;  in 
the  fall  of  the  leaf  gathering  acorns  and  nuts, 
and  in  winter  sitting  with  others  around  the 
wigwam  fires  of  cedar-wood,  and  listening  to 
the  stories  which  the  old  men  told. 

So  the  years  passed  by,  and  Owaissa  grew 
from  a  child  to  a  girl.  She  was  tall  and 
slender;  her  eyes  had  a  more  thoughtful  ex- 
pression than  when  she  was  a  child,  but  in 
other  ways  she  was  unchanged.  She  grew  up  a 
perfectly  natural  girl,  full  of  the  poetry  and 
romance  of  the  wild  people  of  the  forest.  Iosco 
was  still  her  devoted  friend:  she  looked  upon 
him  as  a  brother.  They  wandered  through  the 
forest  together,  gathering  flowers  or  acorns  or 
sweet  grasses.  Sometimes  they  sat  down  and 
rested  on  the  banks  of  a  little  stream,  and  told 
each  other  stories.  Iosco's  were  of  the  wild 
Indian  lore.  He  told  her  of  Odjibwa  and  the 
Red  Swan,  of  Hiawatha  and  his  Minnehaha. 
One  day  they  sat  on  the  bank  of  a  little  stream 
which  rushed  on,  making  a  tiny  waterfall  just 


108  VIRGINIA  BABE. 

below,  which  sang  to  them ;  so  Iosco  thought,  as 
he  sat  there  with  Owaissa,  while  overhead  the 
pines  waved  their  lofty  branches,  and  the  soft 
breezes  whispered  love-songs  among  them. 
Wild-flowers  and  delicate  mosses  nestled  about 
their  feet.  All  around,  laurel  blossoms  made 
the  forest  beautiful  and  the  air  fragrant.  Birds 
were  flying  to  and  fro,  and  from  a  near  tree  a 
whip-poor-will  was  singing  to  its  mate,  as  if 
it  were  telling  its  love.  Iosco  was  watching 
Virginia.  She  looked  more  like  an  angel  than 
ever,  as  she  sat  with  her  golden  hair  falling  in 
masses  over  her  mantle  of  doe-skins,  her  slender 
hands  clasped  while  she  listened  to  the  water 
and  the  birds. 

Her  eyes  of  deepest  blue  were  looking 
thoughtfully  far  away.  Iosco  was  fond  of 
Virginia,  very  fond;  but  he  never  thought  of 
her  as  he  did  of  the  Indian  maidens.  The  mo- 
ments he  spent  with  her  were  the  happiest  in 
his  life.  When  they  walked  hand  in  hand,  a 
strange  thrill  passed  tlirough  him.  He  would 
have  died  for  her  willingly,  had  there  been  any 
need.  His  quick  eye  saw  now  that  she  was  sad 
as  she  sat  listening ;  and  he  drew  closer  to  her 
as  he  asked,  "Where  do  Owaissa^s  thoughts 
go,  that  they  send  such  sorrow  out  of  her 
eyes?" 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  109 

"Iosco,"  she  said,  "mamma  would  tell  me  if 
she  were  here,  that  I  ought  to  be  thankful  for 
all  God  has  given  me.  I  often  fancy  when  I 
sit  alone  that  I  can  hear  her  telling  me  just  as 
she  used  to,  that  it  is  one's  duty  not  only  to  be 
contented,  but  to  be  cheerful  and  happy.  I 
think  I  am  usually,  don't  you,  Iosco  ? " 

He  nodded  as  he  replied,  "  Owaissa  is  like  a 
bird,  her  eyes  are  so  bright,  her  laugh  is  so 
merry." 

"I  try  to  be,"  she  went  on,  "and  I  am  very 
happy  indeed.  Every  one  is  so  kind  to  me ; 
but  sometimes  I  can't  help  wishing  very  much 
that  I  could  see  some  of  my  own  people.  I 
should  like  to  know  if  my  father  is  alive,  and  if 
he  sometimes  thinks  of  me.  He  went  away 
when  I  was  only  ten  days  old:  I  know  he  could 
not  forget  his  baby." 

They  sat  silently  for  a  few  minutes,  then  Vir- 
ginia looked  up  into  Iosco's  face.  "  You  know," 
she  said  softly,  "sometimes  I  feel  sure  my 
father  will  come  for  me  and  take  me  away." 

Had  she  felt  Iosco's  hand,  she  would  have 
been  astonished  at  its  icy  coldness,  and  would 
have  wondered  what  made  him  clinch  his  fingers 
as  if  he  were  in  pain.  From  that  day  a  wild 
dread  of  the  white  man's  return  haunted  Iosco. 


110  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

An  Indian  never  shows  his  emotion,  so  he  only- 
said  quietly,  "Did  I  ever  tell  Owaissa  the 
story  of  Battao?  It  is  a  beautiful  one  from  the 
far  north,  a  captive  of  my  father's  told  it  to  me." 

"No:  you  never  told  it  to  me.  I  should  like 
to  hear  it,"  Virginia  said,  with  a  little  sigh. 

Iosco  would  have  made  an  ideal  picture  as  he 
sat  there.  His  black  hair  was  thrown  back 
from  a  high  forehead,  beneath  which  two  dark 
eyes  looked  out,  which  were  remarkable  for 
their  depth  and  truth.  He  had  a  straight,  well- 
cut  nose,  and  a  mouth  almost  severe,  so  firm 
and  decided  was  its  expression.  When  he 
smiled,  one  forgot  the  stern  look,  for  a  sweet, 
gentle  expression  transformed  the  face.  It  was 
a  classical  face,  and  its  owner  had  a  deep  sense 
and  appreciation  of  the  poetry  of  life.  Certainly 
they  made  a  study  for  an  artist,  —  the  fair  girl 
with  her  golden  hair,  and  the  graceful  figure  of 
the  Indian,  as  he  told  her  the  quaint  old  Indian 
legend. 

"Many,  many  moons  back,  in  the  sunny 
north,  over  towards  the  setting  sun,  lived  a 
mighty  Werowance  whom  they  called  Tyee. 
His  lands  stretch  all  along  the  beautiful  sound, 
where  fine  wampum  is  found.  This  Tyee  had  a 
daughter.     The  name  of  the  beautiful  maid  was 


VIRGINIA   DARE.  Ill 

Battao.  Every  one,  even  those  far  away,  knew 
of  the  rich  wampum  and  the  fine  furs  that  would 
belong  to  the  man  who  should  take  Battao  for 
his  wife.  Her  father  said  she  should  go  to  no 
man  whom  she  did  not  love,  and  he  kept  firmly 
to  this,  though  chiefs  of  great  tribes  came  to 
win  her,  and  many  from  every  part  sought  her. 
Battao  would  look  at  none  of  them. 

"  One  day  a  brave  warrior  came,  tall  and  hand- 
some. Battao  looked  at  him,  trusted  his  brave 
eyes,  and  loved  him.  As  they  floated  over  the 
smooth  waters  in  Battao's  swift  canoe,  they 
came  to  a  beautiful  island,  where  they  sat  on 
the  shore  and  talked.  And  many  days  when 
the  sun  had  gone  half-way  on  its  journey,  and 
done  its  day's  baking,  so  that  the  air  was  as 
that  which  comes  from  the  fire,  Battao  and  her 
maidens  would  cross  to  the  beautiful  island, 
and  there  her  lover  would  tell  them  strange 
stories.  As  they  listened,  the  maidens  sifted 
the  soft  sea-sand  through  their  fingers,  and  as 
it  fell  upon  the  shore  it  formed  the  shape  of 
whatever  Battao's  lover  was  saying ;  there  it 
hardened,  and  yet  may  be  found,  and  it  brings 
the  favor  of  all  the  gods  to  any  one  who  finds 
one  of  the  forms  and  wears  it  in  his  wampum 
belt." 


112  VIRGINIA  DARE, 

"  Oh,  I  should  like  to  see  some  of  the  shapes, 
Iosco,  wouldn't  you  ?  "  asked  Virginia. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "I  should;  and  I  should  like 
to  go  to  that  land,  it  is  so  sunny,  our  captive 
said." 

"  It  could  not  be  more  lovely  than  it  is  here," 
Virginia  replied;  "but  please  go  on  and  tell 
me  what  became  of  Battao." 

Iosco  was  happy  for  the  present;  at  least  he 
had  made  Owaissa  forget  the  white  tribe,  and 
the  canoes  with  pinions  like  wings,  that  she  had 
said  she  was  sure  would  come.  So  he  went  on 
gladly :  — 

"One  day,  when  Battao,  with  her  lover  in 
her  canoe,  and  all  her  maids  in  their  canoes, 
were  going  back  from  the  beautiful  island,  as 
they  came  to  the  deep  part  of  the  water,  Battao's 
lover  said  some  words  to  her  in  a  strange  lan- 
guage that  the  maiden  could  not  understand, 
then  sprang  into  the  water.  Battao  did  not 
cry  out,  she  only  looked  down  where  her  lover 
had  disappeared;  so  did  her  maidens.  But  he 
did  not  rise,  nor  could  they  see  anything  of  him, 
and  they  went  home  to  their  people.  When 
they  told  the  strange  story,  all  the  people  said 
Battao's  lover  had  drowned  himself,  and  other 
men  began  to  come  every  hour.     But  Battao 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  113 

would  not  look  at  them  or  their  presents,  saying 
that  her  lover  was  not  dead,  that  he  said  before 
he  jumped  into  the  water  he  would  come 
back  in  twelve  days.  None  of  her  people  be- 
lieved Battao ;  and  her  maids  went  into  the 
wood,  wailing  and  mourning  for  her  loss.  But 
every  day  when  the  sun  was  half-way  on  its 
journey,  she  would  call  her  maids  from  the 
wood  and  lead  them  down  to  the  water.  Then 
they  would  paddle  their  canoes  to  the  place 
where  Battao's  lover  had  disappeared,  and  she 
would  look  down  into  the  water,  in  which  she 
could  see  the  clouds,  the  sun,  and  even  the  trees 
and  mountains,  all  looking  at  themselves.  She 
saw  not  the  brave  and  handsome  lover  until  the 
twelfth  day  came.  And  then,  while  she  looked 
down,  he  sprang  up  out  of  the  shining  water 
into  Battao's  canoe." 

"  Oh,  how  happy  she  must  have  been !  "  cried 
Virginia. 

"Yes,  very  happy,"  continued  Iosco,  "and 
all  of  Battao's  people;  for  her  lover  brought 
many  presents  with  him,  rare  and  wonderful 
flowers  that  grow  in  the  sea,  and  large  pearls. 
For  Battao  he  brought  beautiful  coral.  Then 
there  was  a  great  happiness  among  all  the  peo- 
ple ;  for  Battao  and  her  lover  were  married.     As 


114  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

they  paddled  out  in  their  canoe  one  day  soon 
after,  Battao  asked  her  lover  where  he  went  to 
down  in  the  water.  He  told  her  his  people 
lived  there,  and  he  wanted  her  to  go  and  see 
his  tribe,  where  they  hunted  whales  and  seals, 
and  gathered  pearls  and  coral  and  beautiful 
shells,  such  as  she  had  never  seen.  She  took 
his  hand,  and  together  they  sprang  into  the 
shining  water.  All  the  maidens,  seeing  the 
water  swallow  Battao  up,  gave  a  great  cry  that 
shook  the  whole  forest.  But  she  called  out  to 
them  that  she  would  come  back  to  see  her 
father.  All  her  people  mourned  for  her,  and 
said  some  evil  spirit  must  have  taken  her,  and 
she  must  now  be  a  fish  in  the  water.  But  on 
the  twelfth  day  she  came  to  her  people  and  to 
her  father's  wigwam,  and  told  great  and  wonder- 
ful stories  of  the  things  she  had  seen.  And  she 
brought  beautiful  presents  to  her  father,  and 
to  all  her  people.  When  she  would  go  back, 
her  father  bowed  down  and  grieved  so  that  he 
would  have  died,  but  that  she  put  her  hand  on 
his  breast  and  promised  him  that  while  he  lived 
his  daughter  would  be  with  him  six  moons 
every  year.  And  so  she  was;  the  rest  of  the 
time  she  was  with  her  husband  in  the  big  sea- 
water.     But  she  still  remembered  and  loved  her 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  115 

people,  and  warns  them  of  storms,  even  to  this 
day,  our  captive  said.  She  is  seen  over  the 
place  where  she  and  her  lover  went  down,  and 
she  looks  tall  and  misty.  No  one  dares  come 
near  her,  for  something  dreadful  has  happened 
to  all  who  have  ever  tried;  before  every  dread- 
ful storm  she  comes,  and  the  people  call  the 
island  to  which  she  and  her  maidens  went  to 
listen  to  the  lover's  wonderful  stories,  the  island 
of  Battao." 

They  sat  silently  for  a  few  moments,  when 
Iosco  had  finished  the  story ;  then  Virginia 
asked,  "  Do  you  think,  Iosco,  that  all  can  tell 
whether  they  will  love  each  other  when  they 
look  at  each  other  for  the  first  time  ?  " 

There  was  a  strange  look  in  Iosco's  eyes,  as 
he  answered,  "  Iosco  can  tell  little  about  such 
things,  Owaissa ;   some  people  surely  could." 

After  another  pause,  Virginia  said,  "•  Your 
stories  are  so  beautiful,  Iosco,  and  I  love  them  ; 
but  they  make  me  wish  that  I  knew  more  of 
the  stories  of  my  people ;  there  must  be  many 
that  I  have  never  heard,  and  even  some  of  those 
my  mother  told  me  I  have  forgotten.  I  ought  to 
have  remembered  them,  and  then  I  could  tell 
you  them,  and  teach  you  more  about  our  God. 
I  speak  of  him  only  to  you,  Iosco,  for  I  know 


116  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

SO  little ;  I  cannot  even  remember  for  myself ; 
and  when  I  try  to  talk  to  Mistress  Wilkins 
about  him,  she  shakes  her  head  and  says,  '  Oh ! 
he  has  forgotten  us.  If  he  loved  us  he  would 
take  us  from  this  place  ;  don't  speak  to  me  about 
him,  child,  this  is  not  his  land.  He  cannot 
hear  us  when  we  speak  to  him.  There  is  no 
priest  or  altar  to  hallow  the  land.'  But,  Iosco, 
when  I  am  alone  in  the  forest  sometimes,  and 
all  is  still,  I  can  almost  hear  him  speaking  to 
me,  and  I  feel  and  know  that  he  is  close  to  me, 
and  I  want  so  much  to  know  him.  I  can  only 
kneel  down  and  say  as  mamma  used, '  Dear  Lord,' 
and  I  know  he  heai'S  me.  Beth  or  Patience 
or  any  of  the  others  does  not  know  as  much  as 
I:  they  have  forgotten,  or  were  never  taught 
as  I  was,  and  you  know  I  could  not  ask  any  of 
the  men.  Patience  says  they  are  the  very 
worst  that  came  over  from  England.  I  wish 
you  knew,  Iosco." 

He  did  not  reply;  and  they  sat  quietly  to- 
gether, only  the  song  of  the  little  birds  above, 
and  the  sound  of  the  falling  water  broke  the 
perfect  stillness. 


CHAPTER  X. 


CHAPTER  X. 

**  There  are  momeats  in  life  of  real  sorrow,  when  we  judge 
things  by  a  higher  standard,  and  care  vastly  little  what  people 
say."  — J.  H.  EwiNG. 

"  And  the  forests  dark  and  lonely, 
Moved  through  all  their  depths  of  darkness, 
Sighed,  '  Farewell.'  "  Longfellow. 

Manteo  was  a  wise  and  brave  chief,  as  well 
as  a  good  and  thoughtful  one,  and  was  much 
loved  by  his  people.  The  dozen  Englishmen 
who  yet  remained  as  the  remnant  of  the  Roan- 
oke settlers  could  not  understand  the  reverence 
with  which  the  savages  treated  their  leader. 
His  word  was  law.  .  His  decisions  were  just, 
without  regard  to  whom  he  was  judging. 

One  autumn  the  twelve  white  men  sat  at 
their  work  of  hollowinof  wooden  bowls.  As 
they  worked,  they  talked  about  their  future,  and 
the  prospect  of  seeing  England  again,  which  all 
confessed  was  very  small. 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  one,  who  looked  strangely 
like  Jack  Barnes,  and  was,  in  fact,  his  brother, 
"I  tell  you  what  it  is,  fellows,  we'll  never  see 
England  if  we  wait  for  those  lazy  cowards  to 

119 


# 


120  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

come  over  for  us.  We  must  go  over  ourselves 
if  we  are  ever  to  get  there." 

The  men  all  laughed ;  and  one,  Bill  Smith, 
said,  "  Why  don't  you  tell  us  to  swim  over  the 
big  pond  ?  We're  nothing  but  slaves  here,  any- 
way, and  I'm  sick  of  it.  Having  to  obey  a  red 
savage,  an  old  heathen  dog  !  " 

A  third  one,  who  really  had  the  best  face  in 
the  crowd,  replied,  "  I  tell  ye,  lads,  it's  a  bad 
business,  and  that's  true  enough.  But  ye're  not 
bettering  it  by  muttering  about  it.  Manteo  is 
not  a  bad  one,  and  ye  forget  he  is  not  a  heathen ; 
was  he  not  christened  by  Master  Bradford?  " 

''That's  all  quite  as  you  say;  but  it  takes 
more'n  a  few  drops  of  water  to  make  his  ugly, 
copper-colored  skin  clean,  and  a  heap  more  to 
make  him  a  Christian,  I'm  thinking.  I  tell  you, 
Gray,  you're  easily  taken  in,"  Barnes  said, 
laughing.  "  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  lads,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  if  we're  ever  to  go  to  England,  we 
must  take  the  bull  by  the  horns  in  the  shape  of 
Manteo,  and  get  rid  of  him.  These  red  fellows 
will  not  know  what  to  do  if  he's  gone,  and  we 
can  make  'em  obey  us.  And  we'll  set  'em  to 
work  at  building  a  craft  to  carry  us  home." 

As  the  men  sat  at  work,  their  evil  imag-ina- 
tions  and  plans  were  making  mischief    faster 


VIRGINIA  DARE,  121 

than  their  hands  were  making  bowls.  At  the 
same  time,  not  a  great  distance  off,  Virginia  sat 
under  the  old  willow-tree,  working  at  the  rude 
spinning  that  Mistress  Wilkins  had  taught  her. 
The  day  was  beautiful,  and  she  felt  a  strange 
sense  of  joy  even  in  living.  The  world  all 
about  was  so  beautiful ;  as  she  spun,  she  sang, 
first  one  of  the  wild  Indian  songs,  then  an  old 
English  hymn  that  she  remembered,  though  im- 
perfectly. She  sang  and  worked,  as  the  sun 
played  with  her  yellow  hair  and  turned  it  into 
gold. 

Her  thoughts  went  far  across  the  water.  That 
great  longing  for  her  mother,  then  for  her  father, 
crept  into  her  heart.  Her  hands  rested  idly. 
She  must  look  out  on  the  water.  What  if  those 
great  canoes  should  be  coming  in  sight  even 
now !  There  seemed  to  be  an  odd  stillness,  as 
if  something  were  going  to  happen.  She  wan- 
dered along  a  little  wood-path  to  a  hill,  beyond 
which  she  could  see  the  clear  water.  There 
was  the  great  blue  sea,  sparkling  and  dancing  in 
the  sunlight.  Iosco  had  chanced  to  see  the 
slight  figure  climbing  the  hill ;  he  now  stood 
watching  her  as  the  breeze  played  with  her 
golden  hair,  and  the  clear  blue  sky  formed  a 
background.      He  knew  what  she  was  looking 


122  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

for,  and  he  was  pained.  Could  she  never  be 
happy  with  his  people  in  their  simple  lives? 
How  could  he  expect  it  ?  But  what  was  wrong  ? 
The  color  suddenly  died  out  of  Owaissa's 
cheeks ;  she  clasped  her  hands  as  if  in  pain,  and 
sjDrang  forward,  out  of  his  sight. 

Hurrying  up  the  hill,  Iosco  could  see  nothing 
but  Virginia's  waving  hair.  She  turned  her 
head,  and  even  far  away  as  he  was,  he  could  see 
that  her  face  was  as  white  as  the  dove's  down 
in  her  mantle.  Iosco  caught  only  one  glimpse 
of  it,  then  she  was  out  of  sight.  He  was  an 
Indian ;  one  sight  was  enough.  He  knew 
Owaissa  was  in  trouble,  and  bending  his  body 
slightly,  he  went  swiftly  across  the  little  knoll. 
Surely  it  must  be  the  canoes  with  the  pinions, 
that  he  so  much  dreaded.  There  was  the  sea, 
clear  and  blue,  no  sight  of  anything  good  or  bad 
on  it ;  but  a  strange  and  awful  sight  was  before 
him,  one  which  he  never  forgot. 

There  was  Manteo's  tall  figure  tied  to  a  tree 
like  any  mean  captive.  By  him  stood  Barnes 
and  two  or  three  of  the  roughest  white  men. 
A  little  way  off  stood  Gray  and  one  or  two 
others,  who  seemed  dissatisfied  and  distressed 
at  what  was  happening.  In  front,  flushed  with 
anger  and  indignation,  was  Virginia.     She  was 


VIRGINIA  DAEE.  123 

speaking,  he  could  hear  her,  more  like  an  eagle 
defending  her  young,  than  a  dove  :  "  Shame  on 
you,  Barnes !  Shame  on  you !  Shame  on  you 
all,  to  touch  the  man  who  has  saved  our  lives, 
and  cared  for  us  all  these  years  !  You  are 
worse  than  the  savages  you  despise.  We  have 
been  safe,  going  in  and  out  among  them,  and 
you  dare  to  harm  their  chief.  I'm  ashamed  to 
be  one  of  you  people  !  " 

It  would  have  taken  a  good  deal  to  shame 
Barnes.  He  only  muttered,  *'  You  are  nothing 
better  than  a  heathen  savage  yourself.'* 

She  turned  fiercely  towards  him.  Iosco  could 
see  her  eyes  flashing  as  she  replied,  "  You  make 
me  ashamed  of  the  white  people  who  are  left 
here.  As  you  say,  I  am  no  better  than  these 
Indians,  who  are  Christians  indeed.  They  have 
given  us  food  and  shelter  all  these  years,  and 
what  do  we  give  them?  No  better?  I  wish  I 
were  half  as  brave,  half  as  noble,  as  some  of 
them  are.  You  are  not  worthy  to  touch  the  old 
man  whom  you  have  bound.  One  cry  would 
bring  ten  times  your  number  of  Manteo's  men, 
who  would  kill  you  all,  should  they  see  their 
chief  in  danger."  And  she  added,  her  eyes 
gleaming  with  excitement,  "I  will  give  the  cry, 
if  Manteo  will  not.  And  if  one  man  is  found 
here  he  will  be  killed,  as  he  deserves." 


124  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

Barnes  drew  a  knife  from  his  belt  as  he  came 
towards  her,  saying,  "  If  you  dare  open  your 
mouth,  I  will  soon  silence  you.     Try  me ! " 

A  slight  rustle,  a  swift  movement,  and  Iosco 
stood  before  Barnes,  who  shrank  before  the  tall 
figure,  and  every  white  man  fled.  Virginia 
sprang  to  Manteo.  With  Iosco's  knife  she  cut 
the  cords  that  bound  him  to  the  tree.  She 
kissed  his  hand  where  the  cord  had  torn  the 
flesh.  The  old  chief  was  moved  by  her  gentle, 
caressing  care,  and  showed  more  feeling  than 
when  he  was  threatened  with  death.  She  knelt 
there  by  the  old  man,  trying  to  show  her  love. 
Iosco  stood  at  a  distance,  with  folded  arms, 
looking  far  away.  He  was  thinking,  surely  this 
would  make  Owaissa  forget  the  canoes  with 
wings,  when  a  sudden  cry  made  him  turn.  It 
was  Virginia;  she  sprang  up  as  if  to  shield 
Manteo,  who  tottered  a  moment,  then  fell  heav- 
ily to  the  ground. 

"An  arrow,  Iosco,  an  arrow!"  she  cried,  as 
she  knelt  by  the  prostrate  form.  Iosco  bent 
down,  his  expression  unchanged,  save  for  a 
strange  look  in  his  dark  eyes.  He  heard  his 
father  heave  a  deep  sigh,  then  all  was  still. 

Manteo  was  dead.  The  arrow  had  pierced 
his  heart;  but  where  had  it  come  from?    Iosco 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  125 

sprang  up,  the  savage  thirst  for  vengeance 
throbbing  through  his  veins.  With  his  hand 
on  his  tomahawk,  one  moment  he  stood  looking 
down  on  his  dead  father,  by  whom  Virginia 
knelt,  her  face  rigid  with  horror.  Looking  up, 
she  saw  Iosco  so  changed  she  hardly  knew  him. 
He  was  staring  at  her,  though  he  did  not  see 
her.  She  thought  his  anger  and  vengeance  were 
turned  on  her.  The  scene  of  horror  had 
changed  her  from  a  merry  girl  to  a  woman. 
The  voice  in  which  she  spoke  was  deep  and 
clear. 

"Iosco,"  she  said,  "kill  me  if  you  will.  I 
would  die  a  hundred  times  over  if  I  could  bring 
back  the  life  of  the  great  and  good  Werowance 
who  saved  us.  God  will  reward  him.  I  know 
he  will ;  and  he  will  punish  us.  Nothing  you 
can  do  to  me  will  be  hard  or  cruel.  I  will  die 
any  death  you  choose." 

Iosco  turned  quickly  away.  He  had  forgot- 
ten Virginia  until  she  spoke ;  he  was  absorbed 
in  the  dreadful  thought  of  his  father's  death, 
and  the  idea  that  he  had  been  killed  by  men 
whom  he  had  not  only  saved,  but  had  treated 
with  every  kindness.  His  only  comfort  lay  in 
the  thought  of  vengeance.  But  Virginia's 
words  brought  back  his  better  self.     He  could 


126  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

not  look  at  her,  and  turned  away  to  hide  his 
grief.  There  came  before  him  the  memory  of 
Mrs.  Dare  sitting  under  the  willow-tree,  while 
he,  Virginia,  and  the  other  children  listened  to 
her  telling  a  story.  He  thought  he  could  hear 
her  saying,  "Those  very  men  whom  he  came 
to  save,  whom  he  loved  and  lived  for,  nailed 
him  to  the  tree,  pierced  his  dear  hands  and 
feet,  and  while  they  were  doing  it,  they  mocked 
and  spit  at  him,  and  called  him  vile  names. 
He  was  greater  than  any  chief  you  ever  saw  or 
heard  of.  But  he  did  not  get  angry.  He  was 
only  so  sad.  Even  in  the  moment  of  greatest 
pain,  he  looked  up  to  his  Father,  the  Great 
Spirit,  and  said,  'Forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do.'  '* 

Iosco  felt  he  could  have  forgiven  anything 
done  to  himself.  But  was  it  right  to  think  of 
forgiving  his  father's  murderers? 

The  answer  seemed  to  come  in  Mrs.  Dare's 
words  again :  "  The  dear  Jesus  could  have  killed 
every  one  of  those  men,  and  come  down  from 
off  the  cross;  but  he  would  not,  for  he  loved 
us  so  much  he  was  willing  to  bear  all,  to  teach 
us  how  we  could  forgive  each  other.  He  not 
only  forgave  them,  but  asked  his  Father  to  for- 
give them  also  J' 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  127 

The  breeze,  the  morning  sunlight,  the  little 
birds,  and  the  dancing  waves,  all  seemed  to  be 
saying  over  and  over  to  him,  "  The  dear  Jesus 
could  have  killed  every  one  of  those  men ;  but 
he  loved  us  all  so  much  he  was  willing  to  bear 
all  that  to  teach  us  how  we  could  forgive  each 
other."  Was  it,  then,  such  a  great  thing  to  be 
able  to  forgive?  He  knew  he  could  have  every 
one  of  those  pale-faces  killed ;  every  one  would 
expect  it.  He  never  for  one  moment  included 
Virginia  when  he  thought  of  the  white  people. 
To  him  she  was  a  being  all  by  herself.  As  he 
turned,  he  saw  her  kneeling  by  the  dead  body, 
her  hands  clasped,  her  face  upturned.  It  was 
white  as  marble.  She  must  be  speaking  to  the 
Great  Spirit.  Those  treacherous  hands  could 
strike  her  from  where  they  had  struck  his  fa- 
ther. For  the  first  time  Iosco  saw  they  were  in 
danger,  and  he  sent  forth  a  great  cry  into  the 
forest,  which  he  knew  would  bring  his  people. 
Virginia  knew  what  it  meant.  She  rose  and 
stood  waiting. 


CHAPTER  XL 


CHAPTER  XI. 

"Tis  sweet  to  stammer  one  letter 
Of  the  Eternal  language  —  on  earth  it  is  called  Forgiveness." 

Longfellow. 

Oh,  that  dreadful  day !  The  howls  and  cries 
of  the  men,  women,  and  children,  as  they  came 
in  reply  to  Iosco's  call,  and  saw  their  chief,  their 
father,  lying  dead !  They  also  saw  Virginia, 
motionless,  as  if  she  had  been  carved  out  of 
stone,  standing  over  the  dead.  He  had  been 
their  faithful  Werowance.  They  stood  aghast, 
unable  even  to  fancy  who  could  have  done 
the  dreadful  deed.  The  medicine-man  said 
solemnly :  — 

"  The  great  Werowance  rested  under  the  ar- 
bor of  wild  vines  that  shade  the  wigwam,  and 
as  he  lay  on  the  mat  in  the  heat  of  the  mid-day 
sun,  a  pale-face  stood  before  the  Werowance, 
saying  he  had  somewhat  to  speak,  but  must 
speak  it  with  naught  but  pale-faces  to  hear,  for 
it  was  a  secret  or  charm  of  their  tribe.  Wero- 
wance was  true,  and  trusted  him :  he  went  into 

131 


132  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

the  heat  and  sun,  following  the  pale-face.  No 
man  has  seen  him  till  now,  when  he  clings  to 
the  earth.  Why  came  not  the  pale-faces  at  the 
call  of  the  Werowance  ?  " 

A  mighty  shout  rose  from  the  people  as  they 
moved  around  the  body,  and  around  Iosco,  who 
stood  with  folded  arms  and  faced  the  scene. 
Then  the  tumult  ceased.  The  oldest  of  the 
company  came  forward ;  taking  Iosco's  hand, 
he  put  it  first  to  his  head  and  then  to  his  heart, 
and  so  gave  his  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  new 
chief.  The  others  did  likewise,  till  all  the  men 
had  pledged  themselves.  Then  they  stood  in 
silence  to  hear  what  he  would  say. 

Iosco  was  a  true  Indian :  he  would  have 
scorned  to  show  deep  feeling  in  his  face  or  man- 
ner. He  said,  very  quietly  and  calmly,  "  Carry 
my  father  to  the  wigwam." 

They  moved  quickly  to  obey  him.  An  old 
Indian  put  Manteo's  pipe  in  his  hand  that  it 
might  be  ready  for  him  on  his  way  to  the  Happy 
Hunting  Ground.  A  young  brave  who  had 
hated  Virginia  always,  because  as  a  child  she 
had  shown  a  preference  for  Iosco,  now  seized 
her  arm  to  drag  her  away.  But  a  strong  voice 
made  him  stop. 

"  Stay,  take  thy  hands  off !  "     Then  leaning 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  133 

forward,  Iosco  said,  "  No  Indian  man  shall 
touch  a  whiteskin  save  a  man  of  full  size." 

Virginia  noted  his  strangely  altered  face. 
Oh,  he  must  be  very,  very  angry,  she  thought ! 
Surely  he  would  never  speak  to  her  again.  But 
he  was  coming  towards  her.  He  took  her  hand 
and  led  her  away. 

The  sun  dipped  low  in  the  west,  sending  a 
crimson  glow  through  the  forest ;  the  birds 
chirped  their  good-nights  to  each  other  as  they 
swung  on  the  branches  of  the  great  trees.  Per- 
fect peace  seemed  to  rest  on  everj^thing.  Iosco 
stood  on  the  bank  of  the  lake ;  on  its  smooth 
surface  the  glory  of  the  sky  was  clearly  re- 
flected. A  slight  noise  made  him  turn.  Vir- 
ginia stood  by  him,  her  face  upturned,  her  beau- 
tiful eyes  fixed  on  him  wistfully. 

"  O  Iosco  I  "  she  cried,  coming  nearer,  "  for- 
give me  for  disturbing  you ;  but,  dear  Iosco,  I 
am  so  sorry,  so  very  sorry  for  you,  and  so 
ashamed  of  my  people.  I  must  tell  you  only 
this  once,  that  our  people  at  home  would  thank 
you  if  they  could  only  know  what  you  have 
done.  We  deserve  to  be  killed.  If  the  big  ca- 
noes ever  come  over,  full  of  white  men  like  my 
father  and  grandfather,  who,  I  am  sure,  must 
have  been  as  good  and  brave  as  Manteo,  —  whom 


134  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

they  loved,  you  know,  —  if  they  ever  come, 
Iosco,  tell  them  what  he  did  for  us,  and  please 
ask  them  for  my  father,  and  show  him  where 
my  grave  is,  and  my  mother's  also." 

Her  voice  faltered,  but  she  still  stood  looking 
steadily  at  him  ;  there  was  nothing  weak  or  sen- 
timental about  her ;  she  was  a  brave  girl,  and 
meant  what  she  said,  every  word  of  it.  She 
knew  the  wickedness  of  the  deed  which  her  peo- 
ple had  been  guilty  of,  not  only  murdering  with- 
out cause,  but  murdering  the  one  who  had 
sheltered  and  defended  them.  She  took  it  for 
granted  that  Iosco  was  very  angry.  She  thought 
it  must  make  him  feel  enraged  even  to  look  at 
her.  But  when  he  turned  and  looked  into  her 
eyes,  she  saw  no  vengeance  in  his  face.  He  took 
her  hand  and  pressed  it  to  his  lips  and  to  his 
heart.  The  color  rose  to  her  white  cheeks,  and 
her  eyes  filled  with  tears,  which  rolled  down 
over  her  flushed  face,  and  fell  upon  Iosco's 
hand.  She  let  him  draw  her  closer,  and  as  she 
looked  up  she  could  not  understand  the  expres- 
sion in  his  dark  eyes:  it  frightened  her,  yet 
there  was  nothing  angry  or  fierce,  there  was  a 
new,  strange  tenderness. 

He  said  simply,  "  Owaissa,  Owaissa !  "  as  they 
stood  there  together.     The  sun  sank  out  of  sight 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  135 

and  the  rosy  glow  was  gone.  The  still  water 
of  the  lake  showed  only  the  reflection  of  the 
moon,  and  the  two  figures,  one  tall  and  dark, 
with  rich  mantle  and  wampum  belt,  the  other, 
fair  and  slender,  with  a  robe  of  woven  turkey 
feathers  lined  with  down  from  the  breast  of  the 
wood-dove.  They  stood  close  together  under 
the  clear  heavens,  as  they  had  often  done  ever 
since  they  could  remember ;  but  it  was  so  differ- 
ent. What  made  the  strange  difference,  neither 
quite  knew.  At  last  Virginia  stole  softly  away. 
The  birds  had  gone  to  bed,  and  the  moon  was 
high  in  the  sky,  sending  down  a  soft  silver  light 
over  the  great  forest  land.  It  looked  at  the 
little  lake  with  its  smooth  water  on  which  the 
two  fiofures  had  been  reflected  at  sunset.  Now 
it  showed  only  one.  He  stood  alone  with  folded 
arms  and  bowed  head.  For  a  long  time  he  had 
stood  there,  even  while  the  shadows  cast  by  the 
moon  were  lengthening.  Then  he  walked  quickly 
up  and  down  the  bank.  The  tiny  waves  lapped 
his  moccasins,  but  he  heeded  them  not.  At  last, 
as  if  worn  out  with  his  solitary  struggle,  he 
threw  himself  on  the  ground,  and  lay  so  still,  he 
looked  more  like  a  dead  than  a  living  form. 
There  alone,  with  only  the  screech  of  the  owl  in 
the  forest,  or  the  call  of  the  heron  to  break  the 


136  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

stillness,  in  the  dim  light  of  the  moon,  alone 
with  nature,  Iosco  was  struggling  with  himself. 
He  seemed  to  be  two  beings ;  one,  the  better  self 
which  Mrs.  Dare's  teachings  had  awakened, 
which  saw  and  dimly  realized  the  light  and  glory 
of  the  living  Saviour ;  the  other  being,  an  Indian, 
with  all  the  passion  and  vengeance  naturally 
found  in  the  descendant  of  a  long  line  of  fierce 
and  warlike  chiefs,  whose  creed  was,  two  eyes 
for  one  eye,  and  always  revenge,  though  it  be 
waited  for  a  long  time,  even  from  generation  to 
generation.  This  being  seemed  to  urge  relent- 
lessly :  "  They  have  slain  your  father ;  make 
them  pay  for  every  drop  of  his  blood  with  a 
scalp ! "  The  better  self  said  over  and  over 
again,  "  He  loved  us  all  so  much,  he  was  willing 
to  bear  all  tliis  to  teach  us  how  to  forgive  each 
other.  The  dear  Lord  could  have  killed  every 
one  of  those  bad  men."  The  first  voice,  almost 
in  reply,  seemed  to  say,  "  If  you  get  rid  of  all 
the  other  pale-faces,  you  can  keep  Owaissa  al- 
ways. You  can  easily  conceal  one,  while  a 
number  would  be  discovered  if  the  great  canoes 
should  come  looking  for  them.  If  you  do  not 
have  these  men  killed,  your  braves  will  do  it. 
It  is  not  safe  for  them  here.  Even  as  a  tiger 
steals  her  prey  they  will  be  seized."     And  yet, 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  137 

in  the  darkness  two  great  blue  eyes  seemed  to 
look  wistfully  at  him.  He  could  hear  the  dear 
girl's  voice,  sweet  and  soft  as  the  voice  of  a  bird, 
saying,  "  God  must  be  very  angry  with  us.  I 
know  he  will  punish  us,  and  he  will  reward 
Manteo."  Was  God  really  going  to  punish  and 
judge  ?  he  wondered.  The  voice  of  the  better 
self  seemed  to  be  saying,  "If  you  could  not 
keep  them  here,  you  could  perhaps  send  them 
away  somewhere  else."  Ah,  yes !  there  was  the 
great  Werowance  Powhatan,  in  whose  friendship 
and  esteem  his  father  had  stood  very  high.  He 
might  be  glad  to  have  some  more  workers  in  his 
tribe.  These  white  people  had  introduced  many 
things  among  his  people,  Iosco  knew ;  a  wonder- 
ful manner  of  spinning,  and  various  other  things. 
The  captives,  for  such  they  now  were,  must  be 
out  of  the  way  before  morning,  and  no  one  must 
know  where  they  had  gone.  How  could  he  get 
them  off  unseen  ? 

He  rose.  The  struggle  was  over  :  the  better 
self  had  conquered ;  but  the  fight  had  been  a  hard 
one.  As  he  walked  through  the  forest  he  mused. 
Should  he  tell  Owaissa,  or  let  her  discover  that 
they  were  gone  in  the  morning?  He  never 
thought  of  including  her  in  the  party  that  were 
to  go ;  and  yet,  why  not  ?     If  it  were  unsafe  for 


138  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

the  other  whites,  might  it  not  be  unsafe  for  her? 
Would  she  not  want  to  go  with  her  people  ?  She 
belonged  to  them. 

He  passed  through  the  little  village  ;  all  were 
sleeping ;  even  the  night  itself  seemed  awed  by 
the  dreadful  deed  of  the  day.  There  lay  the 
great  Werowance  Manteo.  On  the  ground  by 
the  bier  Virginia  had  thrown  herself. 

As  he  looked  at  her,  she  stirred,  sighed,  and 
muttered  something.  He  caught  his  own  name, 
the  rest  was  indistinct. 

"  The  Owaissa  is  like  unto  the  angels  she  used 
to  say  were  guarding  our  Werowance ! "  It  was 
Ranteo's  voice.  He  was  on  watch,  fortunately 
for  Iosco's  plan. 

"  Ranteo  knew  my  father  when  he  was  made  a 
Christian ;  Mrs.  Dare  has  told  me  about  it.  When 
the  white  man  put  the  water  on  the  Werowance's 
head,  Ranteo  was  by  his  side.  It  was  in  the 
moon  before  the  great  canoes  went  over  the 
water  with  all  the  white  hearts,  who  left  the 
pale-faces  with  black  hearts  behind,"  Iosco  said. 

"  To  kill  us,"  the  old  Indian  muttered. 

Iosco  continued,  "  Christians  forgive  those 
who  do  them  harm,  so  I  am  going  to  do  what  a 
Christian  would ;  I  am  going  to  let  all  the  pale- 
faces go  away,  and  not  harm  them.     The  son  of 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  139 

Manteo  the  Christian  will  be  Christian  too. 
Will  Ranteo  help  him  ?  " 

Ranteo  looked  more  surprised  than  if  the  skies 
had  fallen.  Then  he  walked  over,  and  stood 
looking  at  Virginia  for  some  time ;  coming  back 
he  said,  "  In  that  dark  night  long  ago,  when  the 
child  crouched  on  the  rock  to  save  Ranteo,  as  a 
dove  might  try  to  save  an  eagle,  the  pale  lady- 
spoke,  and  Ranteo  promised  to  be  the  friend  to 
her  child,"  he  said,  pointing  to  Virginia,  "  and 
he  will  keep  that  promise  now." 

"Thinks  Ranteo  that  Owaissa  must  go  too?" 
Iosco  asked.  The  old  man  shook  his  head.  "It 
is  not  safe  for  a  dove  to  be  with  hungry  foxes. 
The  white  dove  must  go,"  he  said. 

An  hour  later  a  little  group  stood  on  the  bank 
of  the  James  River,  known  then  as  the  Powhatan 
flu,  on  which  they  were  to  fly  to  safety.  Iosco 
was  to  go  with  them  till  daybreak,  when  he 
was  to  return,  and  send  Ranteo  to  guide  them 
the  rest  of  the  way  to  Powhatan,  on  the  Youg- 
hianund  flu.  They  were  to  conceal  themselves 
during  the  day.  The  moon  was  far  on  its  way, 
but  it  smiled  on  them  as  they  glided  swiftly  over 
the  smooth  water. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

"  I  bold  him  great  who  for  love's  sake 
Can  give  with  earnest,  generous  will; 
But  he  who  takes  for  love's  sweet  sake, 
I  think  I  hold  more  generous  still." 

Proctor. 

News  came  from  Ranteo,  just  as  Iosco  was 
starting  on  his  return  to  Croatoan,  that  the 
whole  tribe  had  risen  up  against  him  for  help- 
ing his  father's  murderers  to  escape,  and  they 
would  not  have  him  for  their  chief.  This  was 
the  doing  of  the  medicine-men,  who  had  lost 
much  of  their  former  power  since  Manteo's  visit 
to  England,  for  he  had  given  up  many  of  the 
old  superstitions.  Ranteo  strongly  urged  Iosco 
to  go  on  to  Powhatan,  and  if  he  were  received 
kindly,  to  stay  there  for  a  while ;  if  his  people 
needed  him,  Ranteo  would  let  him  know.  He 
felt  certain  they  would  soon  want  him,  for  Men- 
inosia,  Manteo's  brother,  who  was  now  to  be 
chief,  was  hard  and  cruel.  So  it  came  about 
that  Iosco  reached  the  camp  of  the  great  Pow- 
hatan on  the  Youghianund  flu  at  Werowocomoca, 
in  company  with  the  miserable  remnant  of  the 

143 


144  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

English  Roanoke  Colony.  It  was  at  dusk  when 
he  made  known  who  he  was,  and  they  were  ad- 
mitted into  the  camp,  and  told  that  the  great 
Werowance  would  see  the  son  of  the  brave  war- 
rior, Manteo,  when  the  sun  next  stood  over  the 
tall  pine-tree.  The  next  day  was  rainy,  so  the 
medicine-men  said  the  sun  was  not  there,  as  they 
could  not  see  it,  and  Iosco  was  obliged  to  wait 
till  the  following  day,  when  the  sun  came  out 
bright  and  clear,  and  the  whole  world  seemed 
shining  with  unusual  lustre.  The  fugitives 
would  know  their  fate  soon.  At  noon  Iosco 
would  be  summoned  to  the  great  Werowance. 

The  sun  had  just  come  above  the  horizon  as 
Virginia  stepped  out  of  the  wigwam,  the  birds 
were  singing  their  morning  hymn,  the  little 
squirrels  were  scampering  to  and  fro  getting 
food  for  their  young ;  a  few  of  the  women  were 
beginning  to  work  at  skins,  others  were  prepar- 
ing food.  They  looked  curiously  at  Virginia  as 
she  passed  them,  but  did  not  speak,  for  she 
looked  sad,  and  they  were  sorry  for  her.  She 
must  be  the  wife  of  the  young  chief,  they  thought. 
But  where  did  he  find  a  squaw  with  eyes  like 
the  sky,  and  hair  like  the  sun  ?  She  passed  un- 
der the  shadow  of  the  great  pines  alone.  All 
the  world  seemed  to  be  in  families,  or  at  least  to 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  145 

belong  to  some  one,  while  she  was  all  alone.  She 
had  never  known  a  relation  but  her  mother. 
Oh,  for  that  mother !  why  could  she  not  have 
gone  with  her  ? 

Virginia  had  lived  long  enough  among  the  In- 
dians to  learn  to  restrain  any  display  of  feeling. 
And  yet  the  thought  of  her  mother  in  that  sad, 
lonely  hour  was  too  much.  She  did  not  cry  out, 
or  even  sob,'  as  another  English  girl  would  have 
done.  She  only  sank  down  at  the  foot  of  the 
great  pine,  covering  her  face.  A  little  moan  of 
"mother,"  seemed  to  shake  her  whole  frame. 
Then  she  lay  there  so  motionless  that  the  little 
birds  flew  about  her  and  never  noticed  her. 
Hundreds  of  miles  across  the  water  her  thoughts 
travelled  to  her  father.  What  could  he  be  like, 
and  where  must  he  be  ?  Would  he  ever  come 
for  his  poor  child  ?  Oh,  how  she  longed  for  him, 
that  father  whom  she  had  never  seen !  Must 
she  die  alone  here?  And  if  she  should  die, 
would  she  go  to  her  mother?  She  hardly  knew 
the  great  God  to  whom  her  mother  had  gone. 
Would  he  know  her  ?  Or  was  it  really  as  Mis- 
tress Wilkins  had  said,  that  he  would  not  listen 
to  the  prayers  of  his  children  in  a  heatlien  land  ? 
Did  it  not  really  belong  to  him  ?  Then  she  fan- 
cied slie  was  sitting  on  her  mother's  lap,  and 


146  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

listening  to  the  wonderful  story  of  the  creation, 
and  her  mother  saying,  "  After  sin  had  come, 
God's  sorrow  was  so  great  that  he  promised  to 
send  a  Redeemer,  which  would  be  his  own  dear 
Son,  and  he  would  come  to  save  us  all."  If  he 
was,  then,  such  a  loving  Father,  he  could  not  for- 
get one  of  his  children,  and  if  he  made  the  whole 
world,  it  must  all  belong  to  him.  All  these  peo- 
ple must  belong  to  him  too,  and  they  did  not 
even  know  him.  Perhaps  she  had  been  sent  to 
teach  them.  Why  hadn't  her  mother  been  spared 
a  little  longer  to  teach  her  ?  Oh,  for  some  one 
to  tell  her  over  again  what  she  had  heard  from 
her  mother  when  she  was  too  young  to  remember 
or  understand  it ! 

An  earnest  prayer  for  guidance  rose  to  her 
lips.  There  were  no  special  words,  only  the 
cry  of  the  child  to  the  Father  whom  she  felt  was 
listening.  She  had  clasped  her  hands,  and  was 
looking  up  so  earnestly  that  she  did  not  see  the 
bushes  drawn  aside  and  a  young  Indian  maid,  a 
mere  child  of  nine  or  ten,  step  out  and  then 
draw  back  and  look  at  her  curiously.  Hearing 
a  sound  among  the  leaves,  Virginia  turned,  and 
saw  the  child  also  looking  up  to  see  what  was 
there  to  gaze  at  so  earnestly. 

She  was  a  strangely  beautiful  little  figure  as 


VIRGINIA  BARE.  147 

she  stood  there,  one  foot  raised  as  if  to  step  for- 
ward, but  resting  still  on  the  root  of  a  great 
tree  that  rose  some  distance  out  of  the  ground. 
She  wore  a  robe  or  mantle  of  fur,  for  it  was  only- 
May,  and  the  Indians  are  never  in  a  hurry  to 
change  their  few  articles  of  clothing ;  besides,  it 
had  been  the  gift  of  her  brother,  whom  she  had 
loved  dearly.  The  mantle  was  loosely  girded, 
and  fell  low  on  her  shoulders,  over  which  masses 
of  dark  hair  fell  in  dusky  profusion.  Her  dark 
eyes  were  full  of  wonder  at  seeing  Virginia,  and 
at  her  strange  position.  Both  looked  at  each 
other  for  a  moment,  wondering  who  the  other 
could  be.  Then  the  Indian  child  sprang  forward 
like  a  young  deer,  and  threw  herself  on  the 
ground  by  Virginia,  and  looked  tenderly  in  her 
face,  her  great  eyes  full  of  pity,  as  she  held  out 
a  garland  of  red  flowers  which  she  had  been 
holding. 

Virginia  took  it  with  a  smile ;  but  the  child 
snatched  it  back,  and  bound  it  about  Virginia's 
head.  Then  she  drew  back,  pointed  to  the  wavy 
golden  hair  and  blue  eyes  with  a  strange  look 
of  awe,  and  clasped  her  hands,  and  bowed  very 
low.  Virginia  caught  one  of  the  brown  hands. 
She  said  laughingly,  "I  am  not  a  goddess  or 
a  spirit,  I  am  only  a  girl.     Who  are  you  ?  " 


148  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

The  child  did  not  now  draw  her  hand  away. 
She  said  in  a  pretty  way,  putting  her  head  on 
one  side,  "It  is  Cleopatra,  the  daughter  of 
Werowance  Powhatan,  the  sister  of  Nantiquas, 
the  bravest,  strongest  Indian  who  ever  shot  an 
arrow."  As  she  spoke,  a  bird-call  sounded 
through  the  forest.  She  answered  it  almost  ex- 
actly. There  was  a  crackling  and  breaking 
among  the  bushes,  and  a  young  warrior  stood 
before  them. 

"Does  not  the  fairest  little  maid  go  to  the 
Great  Father,  when  all  are  gathered  to  see  the 
mighty  wonder  which  is  like  a  linnet  with  a 
finch's  bill,  the  captive  from  Croatoan,  with  eyes 
from  the  sky  and" —  But  seeing  Virginia, 
he  stopped. 

The  sunlight  peeping  through  the  trees  fell 
on  Virginia's  hair  till  it  shone  like  gold.  They 
stood  looking  at  each  other  for  several  moments. 
Then  the  Indian  maid  took  Virginia's  hand  and 
pressed  it  to  her  breast.  Nantiquas  at  once  did 
likewise,  and  then  said,  "The  one  with  eyes 
from  the  sky  belongs  to  the  Spirit.  Means  it 
evil  or  good  to  the  camp  of  the  mighty  Pow- 
hatan? He  is  a  brave  Werowance."  And  he 
took  his  sister's  hand  as  she  stood  beside  him. 

"  I  do  not  belong  to  any  spirit,"  Virginia  said, 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  149 

smiling ;  "I  came  with  the  white  people  whom 
Iosco,  the  son  of  Manteo,  is  seeking  shelter  for, 
and  my  forest  name  is  Owaissa." 

"  Owaissa  looks  more  like  her  namesake  than 
like  the  white  tribe  whom  the  great  Werowance 
is  now  to  hear  of,"  replied  Nantiquas. 

"  Is  the  sun  at  the  top  of  the  tall  pine  ?  Oh, 
I  must  go  to  Iosco ;  where  is  he,  can  you  tell 
me?"  Virginia  asked,  almost  passing  them  in 
her  eagerness. 

"Nantiquas  will  take  the  Owaissa  maid  to 
the  wigwam  of  the  Werowance  Po^vhatan ;  the 
brave  Iosco  sits  before  the  door."  As  he  spoke, 
he  turned  and  led  the  way,  and  the  maidens  fol- 
lowed him.  Virginia  could  not  help  noticing 
how  tall  and  handsome  he  was,  his  long  black 
hair  pushed  back  from  his  high  forehead.  He 
wore  a  skin  girded  about  his  waist  with  a  belt 
of  wampum.  Over  his  shoulder  hung  a  quiver 
of  arrows,  and  on  his  left  arm  he  carried  a  bow. 
In  his  belt  he  wore  a  tomahawk,  and  across  his 
forehead  was  bound  the  skin  of  a  green  serpent, 
its  bright  eyes  gleaming  over  his  left  temple. 
From  his  right  ear  to  his  waist  was  fastened  a 
long  string  of  pearls. 

A  strange  sight  was  the  wigwam  or  bower  in 
which  Powhatan  held  his  court.     He  sat  on  a 


150  VIRGINIA  DARE, 

couch,  which  looked  not  unlike  one  of  our 
modern  bedsteads.  It  was  made  of  fine  wood, 
rudely  carved  with  strange  devices.  He  wore 
a  robe  of  raccoon-skin,  with  a  belt  of  the  rarest 
wampum.  His  powerful  arms  were  decorated 
with  metal  bracelets.  The  ground  around  him 
was  strewn  with  dried  sweet  grasses  and  crushed 
pine-needles  that  made  the  air  fragrant.  At  his 
head  and  feet  sat  two  beautiful  maidens.  A 
hundred  bowmen  formed,  as  it  were,  the  wall 
or  outside  of  the  court-chamber.  In  front  of 
them  were  a  hundred  women  with  bare  necks 
and  arms,  which  were  dyed  with  paccoon  and 
decorated  with  white  coral.  Beside  the  great 
Werowance  sat  a  beautiful  girl  about  twelve  or 
fourteen.  She  looked  like  Cleopatra,  and  was, 
in  fact,  her  sister  Pocahontas,  known  to  her 
"people  as  Mataoka.A  She  gazed  wonderingly  at 
Virginia  as  Nantiquas  and  Cleopatra  led  her  in, 
and  she  took  her  place  among  the  wives  and 
daughters  that  sat  at  the  head  of  Powhatan's 
couch,  on  the  right  side  of  which,  on  mats,  were 
seated  the  priests,  or  medicine-men,  singing  a 
queer  dirge,  keeping  time  to  the  melody  with 
their  grotesquely  painted  bodies.  The  curious 
song  continued  while  Iosco  entered.  He  was  in 
the  dress   of  a  prince,  wearing  a  white   skin 


VIRGINIA  DARE,  151 

girded  with  his  father's  rare  and  beautiful  wam- 
pum belt,  in  which  was  supposed  to  rest  a  great 
charm.  On  his  feet  he  wore  moccasins  made  of 
skins  and  beautifully  wrought  with  queer  pat- 
terns. Across  his  forehead  were  bound  some 
rare  and  beautiful  feathers,  which  rose  high 
above  his  tall  figure  and  nodded  gracefully  as 
he  moved.  He  was  attended  only  by  one  of  his 
braves  and  three  of  the  whites,  who  were  dressed 
as  Indians,  and  carried  the  presents  he  had 
brought  from  Croatoan,  which  they  had  now 
laid  before  him.  An  odd  medley  enough  they 
were  —  a  coil  of  deer  sinews,  a  small  belt  of 
wampum,  a  string  of  noughmass,  and  last,  but 
not  least  in  the  eyes  of  the  chief,  an  old  rusty 
English  sword. 

The  chief  did  not  deign  to  notice  the  things 
till  the  sword  was  put  down,  then  he  extended 
his  great  hand,  and  picked  it  up  with  a  gleam  of 
delight  in  his  small,  dark  eyes  as  he  held  it.  He 
took  from  his  mouth  his  long  pipe,  passed  it  to 
Iosco,  who  smoked  for  some  moments  in  silence. 
Then  Powhatan  nodded  to  Iosco,  whp  returned 
the  pipe  and  began  his  tale,  not  as  if  he  were 
making  a  petition,  but  as  if  he  were  chanting 
or  reciting  a  story.  He  told  first  of  Manteo's 
going  to  England,  then  of  the  white  men  com- 


152  VIRGINIA   DARE. 

ing  to  Croatoan;  of  the  years  that  had  passed 
since,  when  they  had  lived  in  peace  together ; 
then  of  his  father's  death,  and  the  anger  of  his 
people,  and  his  wish  to  remain  or  leave  the  two 
dozen  pale-faces  that  were  yet  alive  at  Wero- 
wocomoca.  He  spoke  of  their  skill  in  many 
things  not  known  to  the  Indian  people. 

He  told  it  in  a  sing-song  drawl,  as  if  he  did 
not  care  in  the  least.  But  when  the  medicine- 
men began  to  mutter,  "  They  are  ghosts ;  have 
none  of  them ;  they  kill,"  Powhatan  looked  at 
the  tliree  white  attendants,  who  certainly  were 
weird  looking,  with  their  yellow,  grisly  faces, 
their  colorless  eyes,  and  white  skins,  and  shook 
his  head  unfavorably. 

Iosco  looked  anxiously  over  at  Virginia.  It 
was  evident  she  was  his  chief  anxiety;  but 
she,  mistaking  his  look,  thought  he  wanted  her, 
and  sprang  to  him,  saying,  "Must  we  go,  and 
where?" 

Powhatan  half  raised  himself  to  look  at  her, 
as  she  clung  to  the  tall  figure,  fixing  upon  him 
her  great  blue  eyes,  her  wavy  golden  hair  falling 
loosely  about  her.  Even  the  medicine-men 
stopped  their  muttering,  and  the  beautiful  prin- 
cess Mataoka  bent  over  her  father  and  whispered 
something  in  his  ear.     He  could  not  but  admire 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  153 

her  beauty,  old  savage  as  he  was,  and  he  nodded 
to  his  daughter,  who  led  Virginia  away  to  her 
own  wigwam.  Then  he  ordered  food  to  be 
brought  to  Iosco,  which  was  his  way  of  showing 
his  welcome.  And  Iosco  knew  that  he  and  his 
party  were  safe  for  the  present. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


/ 


!■» 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

"  She  was  lost  in  a  country  new  and  strange, 
With  lakes  and  with  mountains  high, 
With  forests  wide,  where  the  redmen  range, 
And  shores  where  the  sea-hirds  fly." 

Fair  and  lovely  was  that  sunny  Virginia 
country.  No  wonder  the  ships  went  back  to 
England  with  fairy  tales.  No  wonder  that, 
in  spite  of  mishaps  and  disasters,  there  were 
always  more  of  the  quiet  English  folk  ready 
to  sail  for  the  new  world  of  romance  and  beauty. 

The  early  spring  melted  into  summer;  the 
trees  were  festooned  with  wild  vines ;  the  forest 
was  alive  with  flowers  and  birds.  It  was  an 
ideal  day  in  June,  and  the  whole  world  seemed 
glad  and  happy.  Virginia  and  the  lovely  prin- 
cesses, Mataoka  and  Cleopatra,  had  gathered 
their  arms  full  of  flowers  and  berries.  Virginia 
was  twining  them  into  garlands,  as  they  sat  by 
a  little  stream  down  which  a  canoe  was  gliding 
swiftly.  It  stopped  near  them,  and  Nantiquas, 
who  was  paddling,  drew  it  upon  the  bank  and 

157 


158  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

sat  down  near  Virginia,  listening  to  her  merry 
chatter  with  his  sisters,  till  they  sprang  up  to 
run  after  a  butterfly. 

He  had  been  silent.  Then  he  spoke  eagerly, 
"Owaissa  cannot  tell  what  Nantiquas  saw  when 
he  watched  the  big  sea-water  from  the  great 
salt  oak." 

"  What  did  you  see,  Nantiquas  ?  Please  tell 
me,"  Virginia  asked,  dropping  her  flowers  with 
a  strangely  anxious  expression,  which  made  Nan- 
tiquas  feel  that  she  knew,  or  imagined,  what  he 
had  to  tell  her. 

He  replied  quite  indifferently,  "As  the 
waves  from  Witch's  reef  came  to  Nantiquas, 
there  came  with  the  waves  a  great  canoe  with 
wings.  So  close  to  Nantiquas  it  came,  that 
the  pale-faces  shone  as  they  put  their  irons  in 
the  sea.  Even  as  they  went  down  from  the  big 
canoe  and  dropped  into  a  little  one,  the  waves 
brought  another  big  canoe,  as  one  bird  finding  a 
carcass  attracts  many  birds." 

As  he  finished  speaking,  the  color  rose  to 
Virginia's  cheeks,  then  died  away,  leaving  them 
deadly  pale.  Her  hands  were  clasped.  One 
moment  she  raised  her  eyes,  her  lips  moved. 
Then  she  turned  to  the  young  Indian  with  a 
look  that  he  never  forgot,  and  said,  "  Nantiquas, 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  159 

in  one  of  those  must  be  my  father ;  may  I  go 
and  see  them?" 

"Owaissa  could  never  walk  so  far.  Nanti- 
quas  would  take  her,  but  the  canoe  is  too 
small." 

Nantiquas  felt  sure  if  her  father  were  among 
the  pale-faces  he  had  seen,  he  would  surely 
come  and  take  her  away,  and  this  thought  was 
not  pleasant  to  him.  So  he  did  not  mean  to 
help  her.  But  a  feeling  of  jealousy  rose  in  his 
heart  when  Virginia  said,  "  Iosco  will  help  me, 
I  must  go  and  find  him,  and  tell  him ;  I  know  he 
will  be  glad." 

As  she  sprang  up  to  go  away,  Nantiquas 
caught  her  hand.  "Will  Owaissa  let  Nantiquas 
go  for  her  to  the  camp  of  the  pale  tribe  and  find 
her  father?" 

"  Oh,  how  good  you  are ! "  she  cried,  her 
cheeks  glowing,  and  her  eyes  sparkling.  "  But 
the  white  men  will  never  know  what  you  want. 
You  cannot  talk  their  language,  and  they  may 
think  you  mean  them  harm."  Such  a  sad,  dis- 
appointed look  came  into  her  face  that  Nan- 
tiquas, seeing  it,  would  have  risked  death  a 
hundred  times  for  her. 

He  drew  himself  up  proudly,  as  he  answered, 
"  The  son  of  Powhatan  is  not  a  fawn.     He  will 


160  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

go.  Owaissa  will  tell  him  the  words,  and  he 
shall  say  them  to  the  white  chief  in  the  chief's 
own  tongue." 

"  Do  you  think  you  could?  "  she  said,  looking 
up  wistfully  into  his  face.  "  Could  you  say 
'  White '  ?  " 

He  repeated  it  after  her,  "  White." 

"  That  is  it ! "  she  cried,  catching  his  hand  in 
her  delight.  "  That  was  my  grandfather's  name. 
He  was  a  great  man,  a  chief  I  think.  Now,  my 
father's  name  was  Dare,  and  something  else  that 
was  long  and  hard  to  say.  But  Dare  will  do ; 
can  you  say  it?" 

"Dare,"  repeated  Nantiquas,  still  holding  the 
little  hand  that  had  been  put  in  his. 

"Now,  Nantiquas,"  she  continued,  "my  real 
name,  the  one  they  would  know  me  by,  is  not 
Owaissa.  Iosco  gave  me  that  name  when  I  was 
a  little  girl,  because  my  eyes  made  him  think  of 
the  Owaissa.  It  is  my  forest  name,  mamma  used 
to  say.  But  my  name  with  my  own  people  is 
Virginia ;  after  the  land  I  was  born  in,  mamma 
used  to  say ;  but  I  don't  understand  how  that 
can  be,  for  I  was  born  on  the  island  of  Roanoke. 
I  was  too  young  to  think  about  it,  or  ask 
mamma  how  it  was,  before  she  went  away.  It 
is  a  hard  word  —  Virginia,  but  do  you  think 
you  can  say  it,  Nantiquas  ?  " 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  161 

Indians  have  a  superstition  that  any  one 
knowing  the  secret  of  the  private  name  of  a 
maid  can  work  charms  and  witchery  about  her. 
So  to  Nantiquas  it  was  a  solemn,  if  not  a  sacred 
thing  to  repeat  the  word  Virginia.  But  he  did 
it  quite  correctly,  and  she  clasped  her  hands  with 
joy.  "  Say  it  all  over  once  more,  please,"  she 
urged.  And  he  repeated  clearly,  "  White,  Dare, 
Virginia;  does  Nantiquas  say  it  as  Owaissa 
does?" 

"  Oh,  yes,"  she  said  enthusiastically.  "  When 
will  you  go,  Nantiquas  ?  " 

"  Nantiquas  will  go  even  as  the  canoe  waits 
by  the  water.     Does  Owaissa  wish  it  ?  " 

"Oh,  will  you?  And  come  back  quickly 
with  my  father,  won't  you  ?  I  won't  tell  Iosco 
anything  about  it,  and  we'll  surprise  him  when 
you  come." 

Nantiquas  pushed  the  canoe  out  from  among 
the  willows,  and  stepped  in.  As  Virginia  stood 
watching  him,  more  like  a  beautiful  spirit  than 
ever,  he  thought,  he  saw  her  take  up  a  sharp 
shell  that  she  had  used  to  cut  the  flowers  that 
were  too  stout  to  break,  and  drawing  her  curls 
over  her  face,  she  cut  one  off  with  the  shell  and 
handed  it  to  him,  saying,  "If  you  should  for- 
get the  words,  Nantiquas,  or  my  father  could  not 


162  VIRGINIA  BABE. 

understand,  or  they  would  not  believe  you,  you 
can  show  them  this.  They  will  know  it  did  not 
come  from  an  Indian  maid,  and  they  will  be 
willing  to  come  back  with  you,  I  know." 

He  took  the  silky  yellow  curl  almost  rever- 
ently. Catching  her  hand  that  had  held  the 
curl,  he  pressed  it  to  his  heart,  then  paddled 
down  the  stream  into  the  Youghianund  flu,  and 
was  soon  out  of  sight.  Nantiquas  was  not  the 
only  one  who  had  seen  the  ships. 

As  Virginia  went  through  the  forest  singing, 
her  heart  was  very  light  and  happy.  She  soon 
met  Cleopatra  and  Mataoka,  who  put  their  arms 
about  her.  Cleopatra  said  softly,  "Does  Owa- 
issa  know  that  a  great  canoe  is  in  the  flu  full  of 
white  men,  and  another  one  on  the  water  of  the 
Che-sa-peack  ?  " 

"  Yes,  dear  Cleopatra,  I  know  it,  and  it  must 
be  my  father  has  come  for  me  at  last.  I  can 
hardly  wait  for  him  to  come.  But  he  will  be 
here  soon,  I  know." 

"Owaissa  will  not  go  and  leave  us,  oh,  no, 
no  !  Owaissa  will  never  leave  us,"  and  Cleopa- 
tra threw  her  arms  about  Virginia,  and  laid  her 
head  on  her  breast,  her  beautiful  eyes  full  of 
love. 
•    Virginia  kissed  her  brown  cheek  as  she  an- 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  163 

swered,  "If  the  great  Werowance  Powhatan 
should  come  for  his  pretty  little  Cleopatra, 
would  she  not  go  with  him?  She  would  go, 
but  she  would  not  forget  her  friends  that  she 
had  left  behind,  or  cease  to  love  them  just  the 
same,  and  send  them  presents  to  show  her  love. 
What  will  my  dear  little  Cleopatra  have  from 
sunny  England?" 

But  the  little  Indian  girl  only  clung  closer, 
saying,  "  Cleopatra  wants  only  Owaissa,  and  no 
present.  Her  love  is  in  Owaissa's  bosom,  not 
in  toys." 

The  whole  camp  was  in  a  state  of  excitement 
over  the  strange  news  of  the  ships  in  the  river. 
It  was  twenty  years  since  Governor  White  had 
left  Roanoke,  and  no  Englishman  had  come 
since  their  sad  fate.  When  the  Governor  re- 
turned to  look  for  his  colony,  his  ships  had  been 
in  sight  a  few  days  from  Powhatan's  shores. 
But  these  present  intruders,  as  many  of  the 
Indians  called  the  pale-faces,  evidently  intended 
staying,  for  upon  landing  they  began  prepara- 
tions at  once  for  a  camp,  so  the  report  ran. 

Virginia  listened  in  breathless  silence  to  an 
olii  Indian  who  was  telling  all  he  had  seen  of 
the  arrival  of  the  English  fleet;  for  it  was,  in 
fact,  the  colony  which  had  embarked  in  their 


1G4  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

ships  on  the  19th  of  December,  1606,  from 
Blackwall,  near  London,  and  had  been  for  more 
than  five  months  on  their  voyage,  commanded 
by  Captain  Newport. 

The  old  Indian  sat  smoking  on  his  mat,  rest- 
ing after  his  long  hunt,  and  hasty  return  to  tell 
the  news,  which  he  was  now  doing  for  the  third 
or  fourth  time,  to  the  crowd  of  excited  listeners. 
The  men  sat  or  stood,  smoking,  the  women 
worked  the  skins  on  the  ground,  while  one  or 
two  ground  mondawmin,  or  Indian  corn,  in 
basins  made  of  hollowed  stones.  These  worked 
at  a  little  distance,  lest  their  noise  might  dis- 
turb their  lords  and  masters,  and  were  content 
with  what  fragments  they  could  gather  of  the 
story  that  was  being  told. 

"  The  eyes  of  Ramapo  see  far  on  the  great  sea- 
water,  white  wings  as  of  a  mighty  sea  bird. 
The  wings  come  near,  and  he  sees  the  pale-faces' 
canoe.  Ramapo  goes  into  the  great  tree;  he 
sees  the  white  man  come  to  the  land.  He  sees 
the  canoes  without  wings  pulled  up.  He  sees, 
after  the  sun  passes  a  bit,  the  pale-faces  all 
stand  under  the  trees,  and  one,  the  medicine- 
man, talks  out  of  a  book.  They  all  kneel,  then 
stand,  some  do  look  at  the  clouds,  and  some  do 
hide  their  faces,  that  even  the  sun  may  not  see 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  165 

them.  Ramapo  says,  they  talk  to  the  Spirit 
that  is  in  the  clouds;  and  then  he  comes 
away  " 

"They  were  talking  to  God,  Ramapo,"  cried 
Virginia,  her  great  eyes  full  of  tears,  "  the  Spirit 
that  lives  in  heaven,  but  loves  and  watches 
over  us.  It  is  he  that  has  brought  them  to 
find  me;  I  know  it  is.  My  father  must  be  one 
of  them.  Did  you  see  a  man  that  looked  like 
me,  Ramapo?" 

"Ramapo  was  too  far  to  see  the  eyes,  but 
surely  he  saw  none  with  such  hair,  though 
many  of  the  pale-faces  seem  ashamed  of  their 
skin,  and  wear  much  hair  on  their  chin  and 
cheeks  to  cover  up  the  whiteness,"  was  the  old 
Indian's  reply. 

In  their  excitement  they  had  not  noticed 
the  gathering  clouds  till  the  rumbling  thunder 
made  them  see  the  storm  which  was  just  break- 
ing over  them.  The  awful  stillness  that  often 
comes  before  a  tempest  seemed  suddenly  to  en- 
fold the  forest.  Not  even  a  leaf  rustled.  The 
stillness  could  be  felt  but  not  described,  and 
this  little  group  of  wild  people,  always  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  moods  of  the  forest,  stood  as  if 
listening,  when  suddenly  the  chanting  or  crying 
of  the  medicine-men  was  heard,  and  in  the  still- 


166  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

ness  the  strange  weird  noise  sounded  clearly 
and  distinctly.  "The  pale  man,  the  murder 
man,  he  will  kill,  but  the  mighty  Powhatan 
will  lay  him  low.  Away  with  the  white  faces 
out  of  the  land,  out  of  Powhatan's  hunting- 
grounds,  out  of  his  sight,  out  of  his  sight !  As 
the  rabbit  and  the  deer  shall  we  hunt  them, 
their  hair  shall  we  scalp." 

Six  of  Powhatan's  best  bowmen  came  quickly 
forward,  and  without  a  word  seized  one  of  the 
lads  who  had  come  from  Croatoan  with  Iosco 
and  the  other  whites.  Tliey  came  to  Virginia, 
and  took  her  by  the  arm  to  lead  her  away,  but 
Cleopatra  sprang  up  suddenly  and  forced  herself 
between  them,  and  as  she  threw  her  arms  around 
Virginia  she  cried,  "  Go  away!  who  said  to  touch 
Owaissa?  Nantiquas  shall  punish  who  comes 
near  her." 

One  of  the  men  replied,  "Werowance  Pow- 
hatan says,  'Bind  every  pale-face,  and  bring 
each  one  for  the  evil  of  him  they  call  Barnes.'  " 

"I  am  not  afraid  to  go  to  your  father,  the 
Werowance  Powhatan,"  Virginia  said  calmly. 
"I  will  go  with  you,"  They  led  her  away,  and 
she  found  herself  before  the  great  chief  with 
Beth,  Patience,  Gray,  and  Barnes,  and  all  the 
other   whites   who   had  come   from    Croatoan. 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  167 

Barnes  stood  tightly  bound,  while  in  front  of 
him  lay  the  body  of  an  Indian  whom  he  had 
killed.  They  had  disagreed  about  something ; 
and  Barnes,  having  just  heard  about  the  ships 
from  England,  felt  he  was  soon  to  be  released, 
and  ceased  to  be  cautious.  In  a  passion  he  had 
knocked  the  Indian  down.  As  he  fell,  his  head 
hit  a  stone,  and  he  died  immediately.  Barnes 
had  been  at  once  dragged  before  the  chief. 

The  storm  broke  in  its  fury.  The  prisoners 
had  been  taken  to  wigwams  where  they  were 
well  guarded.  Death  had  been  the  sentence  for 
all  alike,  on  the  morrow  at  break  of  day.  Vir- 
ginia was  kneeling,  Cleopatra  clinging  closely 
to  her,  wishing  for  Nantiquas,  whom  she  felt 
sure  could  help  them.  The  wind  shrieked  and 
roared  outside,  and  the  thunder  rolled.  Where 
was  Iosco?     Why  did  he  not  come? 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"  Every  hmnan  heart  is  hnman, 
That  in  even  savage  bosom 
There  are  longings,  yearnings,  strivings, 
For  the  good  they  comprehend  not, 
That  the  feeble  hands  and  helpless, 
Groping  blindly  in  the  darkness, 
Touch  God's  right  hand  in  that  darkness. 
And  are  lifted  up  and  strengthened." 

Longfellow. 

Where  was  Iosco  ?  He  had  followed  Owaissa 
in  the  afternoon,  to  tell  her  the  news  of  the 
English  ships.  He  went  through  the  forest 
trail  that  led  to  the  little  stream  just  in  time 
to  see  her,  Owaissa,  holding  Nantiquas's  hand, 
and  looking  eagerly  into  his  face.  All  the 
passion  of  his  Indian  nature  was  roused  into  a 
hatred  and  jealousy  of  Nantiquas.  He  turned 
quickly  away,  before  he  had  been  noticed,  and 
walked  far  into  the  woods.  Was  it  for  this  that 
he  had  given  up  his  people,  his  home,  his  inher- 
itance ?  For  a  people  who  cared  nothing  for 
him.  Strangely  enough  he  found  his  love  for 
the  pale-faces  was  really  founded  on  his  love 

ni 


172  VIRGINIA   DARE. 

for  one  member  of  the  race.  He  had  never 
dared  to  hope  that  Owaissa  would  love  him ; 
she  was  a  being  too  beautiful,  too  pure,  for  man 
to  woo.  Though  he  would  never  have  thought 
of  asking  her  to  be  his  wife,  he  could  not  see 
any  one  else  win  her  love.  He  felt  that  he  had 
the  first  right  to  her.  Had  not  he  been  like  a 
brother  to  her,  always?  And  he  knew  well 
that  Owaissa  had  treated  him  always  as  a  brother. 
He  could  kill  Nantiquas,  and  then  he  would  see. 
But  Powhatan  would  no  longer  give  them  shel- 
ter. What  did  that  matter  ?  He  would  have 
vengeance.  Iosco  had  thrown  himself  on  the 
ground,  and  as  he  lay  there,  the  great  stillness 
and  peace  of  the  forest  crept  into  his  heart,  and 
he  seemed  to  hear  Mrs.  Dare's  voice  saying, 
"  The  dear  Jesus  would  rather  suffer  all  than 
save  himself  from  one  pain,  that  he  might 
teach  us  the  great  lesson  of  forgiveness."  "  The 
dear  Jesus,"  the  very  words  brought  with  them 
a  certain  peace  and  rest.  Forgive  !  Could  he 
forgive  Nantiquas  for  taking  from  him  what  he 
cared  most  for  ?  And  yet  that  holy  Jesus  for- 
gave. A  crash  of  thunder  seemed  to  shake  the 
whole  forest,  and  the  darkness  crept  around  him, 
like  the  darkness  which  clouded  his  soul  that 
was  groping  for  light.     Could  he  still  live  for 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  173 

love  ?  For  life  could  not  be  without  love. 
Could  he  live  for  the  love  of  that  great  chief, 
that  holy  Jesus  ?  Did  he  want  his  love  ?  How 
could  he  give  his  service,  his  life  if  need  be  ? 
Oh,  for  some  one  to  teach  him  as  Mrs.  Dare  had 
done  when  he  was  a  little  child ! 

The  storm  beat  fiercely  against  him  as  he  rose 
and  forced  his  way  through  the  tangle  of  the 
forest.  But  a  peace  he  could  not  describe  had 
crept  into  his  heart.  He  must  be  near  Owaissa. 
To-morrow  that  white  father  might  come  and 
carry  her  away.  He  loved  her,  and  would  be 
near  her  while  he  might.  He  was  tramping  on, 
crushing  everything  before  him  like  the  strong 
man  Kwasina,  when  a  voice  called  to  him 
softly.  He  listened.  It  said,  "  Nantiquas,  is 
it  you  ?  " 

He  knew  the  voice.  It  was  Cleopatra's,  and 
it  sounded  full  of  trouble.  "  Is  Cleopatra  in 
sorrow  ?  "  he  asked,  going  in  the  direction  of 
the  sound. 

"  O  Nantiquas,"  she  said,  not  recognizing  the 
voice,  "  O  Nantiquas,  Owaissa  is  in  great  trouble. 
She  is  to  die  when  the  day  comes,  with  all  the 
pale-faces  ;  for  Barnes,  the  red  white  man,  did 
take  the  life  of  Nanogh,  and  our  father  says  all 
the  whites  shall  die." 


174  VIRGINIA  BABE. 

She  knew  it  was  not  Nantiqnas's  hand  that 
clasped  hers,  and  she  drew  back  half  afraid,  till 
she  heard  Iosco's  familiar  voice. 

"  Owaissa  is  in  trouble,  to  die !  The  great 
Werowance  Powhatan  would  never  take  her 
life,  even  now  as  the  white  man  is  coming." 

Then  Cleopatra  told  Iosco  the  whole  story ; 
how,  while  Ramapo  was  telling  what  he  had 
seen  of  the  white  men,  the  medicine-men's  chant 
came  to  them ;  of  the  dreadful  sentence,  and 
how  she  had  only  now  left  Owaissa  to  watch  for 
Nantiquas,  who  had  gone  away  in  his  canoe  in 
the  afternoon,  and  had  not  come  back.  "  If  he 
would  only  come  back,"  she  said,  "  I  am  sure  he 
could  do  something." 

Iosco  said,  "  Cleopatra  must  stay  no  longer, 
lest  her  sad  tears  and  the  rain  be  too  much,  and 
she  die.  Could  she  not  speak  to  the  great 
Werowance,  and  ask  the  life  of  Owaissa  ?  He 
must  grant  what  his  sweet  daughter  wishes." 
Cleopatra  stood  up,  and  Iosco  led  her.  But  she 
said  sadly,  "  The  great  Powhatan  is  very  angry. 
He  would  never  spare  a  captive  for  a  child's 
wish,  Iosco." 

Suddenly  Iosco  loosened  and  drew  off  his 
large,  rich  wampum  belt.  "Will  Cleopatra 
take  this  with  her  petition  ?    It  is  the  charmed 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  175 

belt  of  Manteo,  my  father.  I  prize  it,  but  know 
the  mighty  Powhatan's  eye  often  rests  on  it. 
He  will  grant  the  prayer  of  Cleopatra,  if  she 
carries  the  charmed  belt  of  the  far-journeyed 
Werowance  Manteo." 

She  took  the  wampum  from  Iosco,  and  having 
reached  her  wigwam  they  parted,  she  to  sleep 
on  her  tussan  of  stretched  skins,  and  Iosco  to 
find  the  wigwam  where  Owaissa  slept.  He 
would  lie,  but  not  sleep,  on  the  wet  ground 
outside. 

The  morning  dawned,  dull  and  rainy.  The 
loving  Cleopatra  held  the  wampum  belt  and 
watched  for  her  father  to  eat  his  food.  Virginia, 
too,  had  wakened  early.  She  thought  herself 
deserted  by  Iosco,  and  to  her  surprise  that 
thought  brought  more  pain  than  the  thought  of 
her  probable  death,  which  would  undoubtedly 
be  a  torturing,  painful  one.  She  little  knew 
that  Iosco  had  been  watching  by  her  all  the  night, 
and  was  even  now  looking  sadly  at  her  through 
the  openings  in  the  logs,  of  which  the  wigwam 
was  made.  He  marvelled  how  she  could  kneel 
so  calmly,  her  sad  face  more  beautiful  than  any- 
thing he  had  ever  seen.  If  Cleopatra  were  not 
successful,  she  would  soon  be  led  to  death. 
He  would  die   first,  before   she  should  suffer. 


176  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

But  she  should  not  be  disturbed  by  him  in  these 
solemn  hours. 

A  joyous  cry  made  Virginia  look  up ;  Iosco, 
too,  from  his  post  could  see  the  lithe  figure  of 
Cleopatra  as  she  bounded  into  the  wigwam  and 
threw  her  arms  about  Virginia,  crying,  "  The 
beautiful  Owaissa  shall  not  die  this  day  !  The 
good  Powhatan  says  that  she  shall  fly  all  day 
and  make  his  little  daughter  merry ;  she  shall 
be  merry  at  his  great  feast  to-day,  and  before 
night  comes  Nantiquas  will  come.  He  will  save 
the  sweet  Owaissa."  * 

Viginia  rose,  still  holding  the  little  girl  in  her 
arms,  and  said,  "  I  will  try  to  make  my  dear 
Cleopatra  happy  to-day,  even  if  it  be  my  last 
one  she  shall  be  merry.  If  Nantiquas  does  not 
come,  and  if  he  has  not  the  power  you  think 
he  has,  when  does  Werowance  say  I  shall 
die?" 

Cleopatra  covered  her  face  with  her  brown 
hands  to  hide  her  tears,  but  she  could  not  keep 
back  the  sobs,  as  she  replied,  "  Cleopatra's  fa- 
ther, the  Werowance  Powhatan,  says  the  pretty 
Owaissa  shall  fly  to-day  with  his  child,  and 
not  die  until  the  sun  goes  down  and  the  moon 
comes  out  and  the  sun  shines  again,  but  when 
it  hangs  on  the  great  pine,  the  Owaissa  and  six 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  177 

of  her  tribe,  who  shall  live  till  then,  shall  die 
before  Powhatan." 

Iosco  could  see  Owaissa  comforting  the  child. 
He  heard  her  say,  "  There  are  other  things 
more  cruel  than  death,  Cleopatra,  when  one's 
heart  dies.  But  we  will  love  each  other  to  the 
end,  whenever  it  may  be." 

He  saw  her  kiss  the  child,  who  clung  to  her, 
and  heard  her  say,  "  We  will  remember  that  God 
knows  our  trouble.  If  he  will  that  I  should 
live,  he  can  save  me  even  from  a  great  Wero- 
wance  like  Powhatan.  And  if  not,  he  will  help 
me  to  be  brave." 

Iosco  stood  quietly  with  unmoved  face,  show- 
ing nothing  of  the  struggle  and  pain  in  his 
heart. 

That  day  there  was  a  dreadful  massacre  of 
nearly  all  the  whites.  They  were  slain  before 
Powhatan  and  his  courtiers.  As  they  were  led 
out,  Beth  Harvey  caught  Virginia's  arm  as  she 
passed  the  wigwam  where  Virginia  stood,  try- 
ing to  say  something  encouraging  to  each  one 
as  they  passed.  "  Come,  oh,  come  with  me, 
Virginia ! "  she  cried,  "  stay  with  me  to  the 
end."  It  was  the  old  childhood  name,  and  poor 
Beth's  face  was  so  full  of  agony  that  Virginia 
could  not  have  refused  her   anything,  so  she 


178  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

took  her  hand  and  went  with  her,  and  stayed 
with  her,  and  kept  her  courage  up  as  she  had 
done  all  through  her  life.  She  stood  bravely  by 
Beth,  never  flinching  at  the  dreadful  sights. 
She  did  not  know  that  Nantiquas  and  Iosco 
stood  looking  at  her  with  wonder  and  admira- 
tion, as  she  held  poor  Beth's  trembling  hand, 
and  bent  all  her  energy  to  keep  the  little  spark 
of  courage  bright. 

"  Dear  Beth,  you  will  be  brave.  It  will  only 
be  a  moment  of  pain,  and  then  you  will  be  be- 
yond all  pain,  with  your  mother  and  with  mine. 
But  O  Beth,  you  will  know  all  that  we  have 
longed  to  know  about  the  dear  Saviour  who 
died  for  us. 

•  •  •  •  •  •  • 

All  was  over.  Beth  no  longer  needed  human 
aid.  A  slight  figure,  with  halo  of  golden  curls, 
tottered  and  fell.  But  before  it  touched  the 
earth,  it  was  caught  and  carried  away.  Under 
the  great  pine,  Virginia  lay  motionless,  while 
two  Indian  princes  bent  over  her,  doing  all  in 
their  power  to  bring  back  a  sign  of  life,  and  a 
child  knelt  by,  cr^dng. 

Life  came  back ;  the  weary  brain  began  slowly 
to  awake.  The  great  blue  eyes  opened.  She 
tried  to  smile  ;  but  that  awful  scene  came  be- 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  179 

fore  her, —  Barnes,  Gray,  Smith,  even  Beth, 
all  that  she  had  called  her  people,  lying  dead 
about  her.  She  closed  her  eyes ;  but  soon  she 
opened  them  again,  and  found  that  she  was 
lying  on  the  low  rush  tussan  in  the  wigwam. 
Nantiquas  was  standing,  looking  down  at  her. 
At  first  she  thought  he  was  her  father,  and 
stretched  her  hand  out  to  him ;  he  caught  it,  and 
knelt  down  by  her. 

"Is  it  you,  Nantiquas ?"  she  said.  "I  for- 
got that  you  had  come  back." 

He  bent  low  over  her  as  he  said,  "  Nantiquas 
is  here :  the  Puk-weedjie  hurried  him  back  to 
save  the  life  of  the  sweet  Owaissa." 

"Save  me  from  what?  Oh,  I  forgot.  But 
how  can  you  save  me  ?  Will  Powhatan  listen 
to  you,  Nantiquas  ?  " 

She  said  it  half  dreamily,  as  if  she  didn't  care. 

Iosco  had  been  lying  close  outside,  and  heard 
her  last  words,  and  Nantiquas's  reply,  which 
made  him  clinch  his  hands :  — 

"Powhatan  will  not  hurt  Nantiquas's  wife. 
To  save  Owaissa,  she  will  be  Nantiquas's  wife, 
and  love  him." 

The  voice  was  clear  and  decided,  that 
answered :  — 

"  O  Nantiquas,  you  are  so  good  to  want  to 


180  VIRGINIA  DABE. 

save  me,  but  I  could  not  be  saved  tbat  way ;  I 
could  never  be  your  wife,  Nantiquas.  I  would 
do  anything  else  in  the  world  that  I  could  for 
you." 

After  a  long  silence,  Nantiquas  replied, 
"  Then  Owaissa  will  sooner  die  than  be  the  wife 
of  Nantiquas  ?     He  cannot  save  her." 

" No, Nantiquas,"  she  said  firmly  and  clearly; 
"  no ;  I  can  never  be  your  wife." 

He  said  not  a  word,  but  passed  out  of  the 
wigwam  into  the  twilight.  Cleopatra  tried  to 
coax  Virginia  to  eat.  Iosco  lay  concealed  at 
the  back  of  the  wigwam,  and  wondered  why 
Owaissa  had  refused  Nantiquas,  till  the  dark- 
ness crept  up  and  the  moon  rose,  and  the  stars 
came  out  to  keep  their  mother  moon  company. 
The  hours  slipped  by,  those  last  hours,  as  it 
seemed,  of  Owaissa's  life.  Iosco  asked  himself 
over  and  over  again,  should  he  go  to  her  or  not  ? 


CHAPTER  XV. 


,K 


CHAPTER  XV. 

"  No  answer  comes  through  the  ceaseless  whirl 
Of  the  hurrying  ages  tossed, 
And  the  New  World's  first  little  English  girl 
Is  still  a  little  girl  lost." 

E.  H.  Nason. 

It  was  nearly  the  middle  hour,  when  the 
darkness  is  thickest,  that  a  low  voice  said,  at 
the  entrance  of  the  wigwam,  "  Will  Owaissa 
come  ?  Be  quick,  and  move  like  a  young  fawn, 
without  noise ! " 

It  was  a  very  low  call  for  Iosco  to  hear,  but 
it  reached  him.  In  a  moment  he  stood  before 
the  wigwam  by  Nantiquas,  who  only  said,  "  We 
shall  carry  Owaissa,  and  Iosco  must  go  with 
her.     Will  he  go?" 

The  reply  was  prompt :  — 

"  He  will  go  anywhere  that  Owaissa  will  be 
safe ;  but  where  will  that  be  ?  " 

"  Ask  nothing  now.     Can  you  carry  her  ?  " 

Iosco  lifted  Owaissa  tenderly,  as  if  she  had 
been  a  baby,  and  the  three  passed  into  the  dark- 
ness and  silence  of  the  forest  night. 

183 


184  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

Nantiquas  led  them  first  behind  the  wigwam, 
where  there  were  bushes  and  undergrowth  to 
hide  them.  Then  he  turned  into  a  trail  un- 
known to  Iosco.  On,  on,  they  went.  Not  a 
word  was  said.  Owaissa  felt  that  Iosco  was 
carrying  her,  and  she  cared  for  nothing  else. 
Iosco  knew  that  he  had  his  darling  close  to  his 
heart,  and  that  she  had  refused  life  at  the  price 
of  being  the  wife  of  the  bravest  prince  of  the 
mightiest  tribe. 

Suddenly  Nantiquas  stopped,  and  said :  — 

"  Ramapo  stands  yonder  by  the  fallen  willow ; 
he  loves  Owaissa,  and  will  let  her  pass.  Iosco 
shall  say  he  carries  Owaissa  to  the  great  Wero- 
wance  Eyonols  on  the  Chanock  flu.  Say  that 
she  goes  to  hide  at  Ritanoe,  in  the  mines  of 
Mattasin.     We  meet  beyond." 

Iosco  went  on  as  Nantiquas  said,  and  met 
Ramapo,  who  let  him  pass.  But  no  sooner  had 
he  done  it  than  his  loyal  heart  repented,  and  he 
called  to  Iosco  to  return.  But  Iosco  only  ran 
on  the  more  quickly.  He  was  wondering  what 
he  should  do  to  protect  Owaissa,  when  he  heard 
Nantiquas  say,  "  Turn  under  the  lindens  to  the 
right,  quickly ! "  And  he  turned  just  in  time 
to  escape  an  arrow  that  Ramapo  had  sent  after 
him. 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  185 

Nantiquas  led  on  in  a  different  direction. 
The  trail  was  very  narrow  and  rough.  Yet 
Iosco  wished  they  might  go  on  all  night,  that 
he  might  hold  his  prize  so  close. 

After  walking  for  several  hours,  Nantiquas 
stopped  suddenly,  and  turned,  saying,  "The 
river  lies  just  beyond.  By  it  there  is  a  camp, 
which  tears  not  being  seen,  for  the  fire  burns. 
The  clever  Powhatan  has  not  had  time  to  have 
his  fire  burning  as  bright  as  a  harvest  sun, 
since  we  started.  If  they  are  his  men  we  shall 
be  taken.  First,  Nantiquas  would  speak  to 
Owaissa.  He  did  journey  to  the  pale-faces* 
camp,  and  lie  watching  and  listening,  but  no 
word  that  Owaissa  spoke  came  to  his  ears.  He 
did  see  one  like  a  spirit,  so  white  was  his  face. 
He  lays  his  hands  together,  and  puts  his  knees 
on  the  ground,  looks  up  and  speaks,  and  while 
he  does,  Nantiquas -seizes  and  carries  him  off  in 
the  woods.  He  has  not  the  strength  of  a  kid, 
but  his  eyes  are  like  those  of  a  young  deer,  so 
brown  and  soft.  Nantiquas  says  to  the  pale- 
face, '  Virginia.'  He  nods  his  head  and  laughs, 
as  if  he  knows  what  that  is.  Then  Nantiquas 
says,  '  White,'  and  he  puts  his  hands  to  his  face 
and  laughs  more.  Nantiquas  says,  '  Dare,'  and 
he  puts  one  hand  on  the  other,  and  looks  up  as 


186  VIRGINIA   DARE. 

if  he  would  say  he  feared  the  Indian  not.  He 
would  understand  no  more.  So  Nantiquas 
leaves  him  to  go  back  to  his  camp.  While  Nanti- 
quas listened  to  the  white  camp  men,  he  heard 
many  speak  to  one,  the  chief.  But  they  do  not 
say  'White,'  they  say  'New-port.'  One  other 
is  'Smi-th,'  and  many  more  such.  But  none 
with  the  words  of  Owaissa." 

Owaissa  stood  by  Nantiquas  while  he  spoke. 
She  laid  her  hand  on  his  arm  as  she  said, 
"  Then  they  have  forgotten  me,  my  own  people. 
But  you,  Nantiquas,  you  have  been  so  kind,  so 
very  good  to  me.  I  shall  always  love  you  as  I 
would  have  loved  my  brother.  I  will  pray  for 
you  always." 

"Is  it  the  prayer  that  makes  Owaissa  so 
brave  ?  "  he  asked  very  gently. 

"Yes,  Nantiquas,"  she  replied.  "It  is  the 
Great  Spirit  who  makes  us  able  to  meet  death. 
Some  day  you  will  know  all  about  him.  I  am 
sure  you  will." 

Nantiquas  took  Virginia's  little  hand  and 
pressed  it  one  moment.  Then  they  stepped 
forward  cautiously  toward  the  river  and  the 
light.  So  softly  did  they  move,  they  would 
surely  not  have  been  heard  or  discovered  but 
for  Virginia,  who,  as  she  came  nearer  the  fire, 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  187 

gave  a  great  cry,  and  sprang  forward.  Two 
figures  were  lying  by  the  fire  on  the  ground, 
and  one  was  a  white  man. 

It  was  an  English  voice  that  replied  to  Vir- 
ginia's cry,  "  Who  comes  this  way  ?  " 

Virginia  had  sprung  from  her  two  companions, 
and  was  standing  in  the  firelight  before  they 
could  stop  her.  She  spoke  in  her  own  tongue. 
They  could  not  tell  what  she  said,  but  they  saw 
the  two  figures,  who  seemed  to  be  alone  by  the 
camp  fire,  draw  close  to  her. 

"  Ranteo  ! "  exclaimed  Iosco.  ''  It  is  old  Ran- 
teo  !  "  and  he  went  forward. 

When  the  old  Indian  saw  Iosco,  he  caught  his 
hand,  ciying,  "  The  people  of  Manteo  do  groan 
for  Iosco.  They  offer  sacrifices  every  day  for 
his  return.  But  he  comes  not.  Old  Ranteo 
comes  far  to  find  him  and  fetch  him  back.  The 
brave  Christian  Werowance,  Iosco  !  " 

It  was  Owaissa  who  answered,  turning  from 
the  stranger  with  whom  she  had  been  earnestly 
talking,  "  Do  they  really  want  Iosco  back  at 
Croatoan?  I  knew  they  would,  some  day.  I 
am  so  glad,  dear  Iosco." 

Nantiquas  and  the  stranger  to  whom  Virginia 
had  been  speaking  looked  at  each  other  in  sur- 
prise for  a  moment,  then  they  began  talking  by 


188  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

signs.  Nantiquas  turned  to  the  others,  and 
laughed  as  he  said,  ''  The  poor  pale-face  could 
not  get  to  his  camp.  He  was  but  an  arrow's 
fling  from  it." 

Ranteo  laughed  too,  as  he  answered,  "  The 
poor  nemarough  wandered  like  a  lost  deer  back 
and  forth,  and  was  full  of  fear.  He  would  speak 
with  me,  but  he  could  not,  and  for  the  great 
Werowance  Manteo's  love,  who  did  good  to  all 
such.  Ranted  gave  the  stranger  half  his  fire  and 
half  his  food,  and  would  bring  him  to  Iosco." 

Nantiquas  interrupted,  "  The  Owaissa  is  not 
safe  on  Powhatan's  land.  The  bo}^s  and  men 
wait  yonder.  You  must  go  on.  You  must  go 
to  Croatoan.     Is  it  not  so,  Iosco  ?  " 

"  But  how  about  the  Werowance  at  Ritanoe  ? 
Must  we  not  go  there,  Nantiquas?"  Virginia 
asked. 

Nantiquas  laughed.  "  Owaissa  would  not  have 
come  by  this  trail  had  she  been  journeying  to 
Ritanoe.  Pov/ha tan's  braves  have  that  trail  to- 
night. Owaissa  was  on  her  way  to  her  own 
people,  to  the  camp  of  the  pale-faces,  but  it  is 
safer  for  her  on  the  way  to  Croatoan.  There 
she  can  join  her  people  without  danger  from 
Powhatan." 

A  slight  noise  in  the  darkness  startled  them. 


VIRGINIA  BABE.  189 

Iosco  drew  a  deerskin  over  the  fire  and  stepped 
on  it  till  the  light  was  gone.  Nantiquas  led  the 
way,  and  they  followed ;  they  had  gone  only  a 
short  distance  when  they  came  to  the  men  and 
boys,  all  that  was  left  of  the  Roanoke  colony, 
seven  souls.  Two  small  skiffs  were  waiting,  a 
moment  more  and  all  was  ready. 

Owaissa  clasped  Nantiquas's  hand.  "  You  have 
been  very  good,  dear  Nantiquas.  You  will  come 
to  us  some  day,  won't  you  ?  "  Her  voice  fal- 
tered, and  she  sobbed  as  she  had  not  done  in  all 
the  scenes  of  pain  or  danger.  "  He  has  been  so 
good;  he  has  saved  us  all,"  she  said,  turning  to 
the  Englishman,  who,  raising  his  hand,  gave  his 
blessing  to  the  young  Indian  prince. 

One  more  grasp  of  Owaissa's  hand,  then  the 
skiffs  were  moving  down  the  Youghianund  flu, 
leaving  Nantiquas  alone  on  the  shore.  The  first 
rays  of  the  sun  glistened  on  the  waving  hair  in 
the  boat,  and  on  a  little  silky  curl  in  the  Indiau's 
brown  hand,  as  he  caressed  it  tenderly.  The 
mists  cleared  away,  and  a  faint  gleam  of  color 
tinged  the  sky  like  the  reflection  of  a  rainbow. 
He  saw  it,  and  muttered  to  himself,  as  the  skiffs 
passed  out  of  sight,  "  Nantiquas  will  never  tell 
your  secret  to  the  whites,  Iosco,  lest  they  carry 
her  off  from  you."     And  then  looking  towards 


190  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

the  bright  bow  of  color,  he  added,  "  True,  there 
are  many  flowers  do  die  on  earth." 

Powhatan  had  condemned  all  the  whites  to  die 
because  he  was  afraid  they  might  tell  the  se- 
crets of  his  people  to  the  white  tribe  who  had 
now  settled  near  his  own  lands.  If  they  knew 
all,  they  would  be  dangerous  enemies.  So  Nan- 
tiquas  had  sent  word  to  Iosco  not  to  let  any  of 
the  whites  attempt  to  go  to  Jamestown,  for 
there  were  spies  watching  for  them  all  the  way, 
with  orders  to  capture  them.  A  reward  was 
offered  for  every  white  scalp  from  Croatoan 
or  Ritanoe,  or  wherever  the  seven  whites  had 
escaped  to. 

The  old  places  were  slowly  coming  nearer 
and  nearer,  and  the  great  throb  of  happiness 
that  leaps  into  one's  heart  as  he  is  coming  home, 
filled  Virginia's  heart  with  thankfulness  and 
love. 

"  O  Iosco,  I  am  so  glad  I  did  not  go  right  to 
my  own  people ;  I  would  never  have  seen  Croa- 
toan again.  I  am  sure  there  is  not  another 
place  in  the  whole  world  so  beautiful.  I  love  it, 
every  spot  of  its  ground.  Are  you  glad  we  are 
all  to  be  together  again  for  a  while  ?  " 

"  Iosco  is  glad,  oh,  yes,  very  glad.  Did  Owa- 
issa's  father  come  in  the  big  canoes  ?     What  tid- 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  191 

ings  brings  the  white  man  of  her  people  ?  "  he 
asked  very  earnestly. 

Virginia  was  standing  in  the  end  of  the  skiff, 
that  she  might  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  the 
dear  familiar  place.  She  put  her  hand  on  Iosco's 
shoulder  to  steady  herself,  and  looking  sadly 
down  into  his  dark  eyes,  she  said,  "  O  Iosco, 
do  you  know  I  have  almost  forgotten  my  peo- 
ple's language :  many  things  the  white  man  ssljs 
to  me  I  cannot  understand.  But  this  I  do  know; 
he  says  my  grandfather  and  my  father  came 
with  the  big  canoes  to  find  us,  long,  long  ago, 
and  they  found  only  the  empty  place  at  Roa- 
noke and  the  word  '  Croatoan ; '  but  when  they 
would  find  Croatoan,  the  storm  caught  up  their 
canoes  and  carried  them  away.  Even  now  this 
Chief  Newport  is  speaking  for  us,  and  will  be 
glad  when  he  knows  what  you  have  done,  and 
will  give  you  many  things." 

"  Will  the  pale-face  take  Owaissa  to  her  peo- 
ple soon  ?  "  Iosco  asked. 

"  Whenever  you  send  some  one  with  us.  We 
could  not  go  alone ;  but  do  not  let  us  hurry. 
Let  us  see  you  back  at  the  old  place,  and  this 
white  face  can  teach  your  people  and  all  of  us 
about  the  Great  Spirit,  the  dear  Jesus.  Mis- 
tress Wilkins  said  this  land  needed  such  as  he  is 


192  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

to  hallow  it  —  a  priest."     Virginia  said  the  last 
word  reverently. 

"  The-pale  face  is  good.  The  light  of  the 
Great  Spirit  is  in  his  eyes.  He  shall  stay  as  long 
as  he  will,  and  teach  the  people  as  Manteo 
would  have  wished ;  and  surely  Owaissa  will 
never  hurry  from  the  people  who  love  her," 
Iosco  replied. 

"  Do  you  know,  Iosco,"  she  said  with  a  wist- 
ful look,  "  do  you  know  I  almost  dread  going  to 
my  people  now.  If  I  have  forgotten  even  their 
language,  which  I  once  knew  so  well,  how  much 
less  shall  I  know  their  ways  and  lives,  which  I 
have  never  learned;  they  will  not  understand 
me  and  my  ways,  they  v/ill  laugh  at  me.  Your 
people  are  really  my  people,  for  I  know  and 
love  them." 

As  Iosco  sprang  from  the  little  boat,  upon  his 
own  land,  he  thought  he  had  never  felt  so  happy 
before ;  and  when  he  turned  and  helped  the 
Englishman  on  the  shore,  giving  him  a  welcome 
after  the  manner  of  his  people,  Virginia  won- 
dered if  the  coming  back  had  brought  such  joy 
into  his  face ;  she  had  not  seen  the  pain  that  the 
leaving  of  it  must  have  caused. 

The  priest  bared  his  head,  and  raising  his 
hand  blessed  the  land  and  the  people  ;  then  the 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  193 

little  company  moved  up  the  hill.  There  were 
the  great  fields  of  tobacco  with  their  long  leaves 
shining  in  the  sunlight;  and  there  were  the 
fields  of  corn  where  the  women  must  have  lately 
been  working,  but  now  there  was  not  a  sign  of 
woman  or  child.  Virginia  was  anxious  to  see 
the  people ;  and  she  hurried  on  before  the  others, 
and  ran  swiftly  over  the  grass,  which  was  dotted 
with  daisies.  She  soon  reached  the  council 
house,  which  was  like  a  great  arbor,  and  hearing 
voices  she  stopped  and  looked  in. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  weird,  almost  unearthly  sight 
that  met  her  gaze.  In  the  centre  a  great  fire 
burned;  around  it  on  the  ground  a  circle  was 
formed  of  grains  of  corn;  outside  of  this  a 
larger  circle  formed  of  meal.  Six  men,  painted 
red  and  black,  with  white  circles  painted  about 
their  eyes,  followed  ;  another,  painted  like  them- 
selves, only  a  little  more  gaudily,  wore  on  his 
head  a  sort  of  crescent  made  of  weasel-skins 
stuffed  with  dried  moss,  the  tails  tied  together 
at  the  top  with  a  knot  of  bright  feathers,  while 
the  skins  fell  about  his  face  and  neck;  a  great 
green  snake  was  coiled  around  his  throat,  the 
tail  flapping  about  on  his  back.  The  crea- 
ture, who  was  in  fact  the  cliief  medicine-man, 
was  a  frightful  object,  as  he  danced  before  the 


194  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

fire  uttering  unearthly  yells.  The  people  had 
assembled  in  the  arbor,  bringing  with  them 
offerings  of  every  imaginable  description  for 
sacrifice. 

The  purpose  of  this  worship  was  to  entreat 
the  Great  Spirit  to  send  Iosco  back :  they  did 
not  know  how  to  offer  the  Christian  sacrifice, 
yet  they  felt  that  their  prayers  must  be  accom- 
panied by  some  proof  of  their  earnestness ;  so 
they  used  the  old  form  of  heathen  worship,  the 
only  thing  they  had  known  till  Manteo  went  to 
England  and  came  back  a  Christian ;  but  even 
then  there  had  been  no  one  to  teach  them  its 
blessed  worship.  From  Manteo  and  Mrs.  Dare 
they  had  only  gained  a  glimmering  of  its  first 
principles,  which  they,  poor  heathen  people  as 
they  were,  had  eagerly  grasped.  The  people 
inside  were  so  intent  on  their  worship  that  they 
did  not  notice  Virginia,  as  she  stood  in  the  vine- 
covered  doorway,  or  the  others  who  soon  joined 
her. 

To  Martin  Atherton,  the  English  priest,  as 
he  gazed  in  at  the  wild,  weird  scene,  it  seemed 
like  the  very  entrance  of  hell,  and  that  hideous 
figure,  the  chief  medicine-man,  looked  not  un- 
like the  evil  one  himself,  as  he  danced  and 
yelled,  followed   closely  by   the  others.     Then 


VIRGINIA  BARE.  195 

all  the  people  sent  forth  a  groau,  and  the  chief 
medicine-man  threw  many  of  the  offerings  the 
people  had  brought  into  the  fire,  which  caused 
a  great  crackling  and  spluttering.  The  groans 
of  the  people  rose  dolefully,  and  the  wild  yell 
of  the  medicine-man  completed  the  frightful 
scene. 

When  Iosco  passed  from  the  little  group  out- 
side, and  stood  in  the  firelight  before  his  people, 
they  thought  he  had  come  out  of  the  fire,  and 
waited  one  moment  to  see  if  he  would  vanish 
into  it  again.  As  he  did  not,  they  pressed  their 
hands  to  their  hearts  and  yelled  for  joy,  till  the 
very  rocks  seemed  to  tremble. 

At  a  sign  from  Iosco  his  people  were  silent. 
He  spoke  to  them  of  his  father,  and  of  his 
Christian  faith;  of  the  whites,  and  how  Powha- 
tan had  killed  most  of  them  ;  of  the  canoes  now 
in  the  river;  of  how  he  had  heard  they  had 
wanted  him,  and  he  had  come.  Now  did  they 
wish  him  to  remain  ?  With  a  great  cry  they 
called  him  their  chief,  while  the  medicine-men 
strewed  corn  before  him,  as  a  sign  that  all 
should  be  his,  and  poor  old  Adwa,  the  squaw 
who  had  nursed  him,  ran  to  the  fire,  and  would 
have  thrown  herself  in  as  a  thank-offering  had 
not  Iosco  caught  her  and  pointed  to  Virginia, 


196  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

who  still  stood  in  the  doorway.  She  ran  to  her, 
and  held  the  head  of  soft  wavy  hair  to  her 
breast  as  tenderly  as  any  mother  would  have 
done. 

Martin  Atherton  looked  on  in  amazement, 
at  the  squaws  gathered  about  Virginia,  and 
showed  how  tenderly  they  loved  her.  He  could 
see  that  she  loved  them,  and  for  each  she  seemed 
to  have  a  few  kind  words.  The  children  seemed 
to  rain  down,  more  than  a  dozen  having  gath- 
ered around  her  in  a  minute.  As  he  watched 
her  caress  them  lovingly,  and  saw  her  pick  up 
one  brown  little  boy,  who  was  scarcely  more 
than  a  papoose,  and  hold  him  close  to  her  heart, 
he  wondered  if  she  could  ever  be  happy  in  a 
conventional  English  life,  and  what  the  draw- 
ing-room would  say  and  think  of  this  forest 
maiden. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

"  Life  has  two  ecstatic  moments,  one  when  the  spirit  catches 
sight  of  truth,  the  other  when  it  recognizes  a  kindred  spirit. 
Perhaps  it  is  only  in  the  land  of  truth  that  spirits  can  discern 
each  other  ;  as  it  is  when  they  are  helping  each  other  on  that 
they  may  best  hope  to  arrive  there. "  —  Edna  Lyall. 

It  was  the  first  of  the  Indian  seasons,  "  the 
fall  of  the  leaf."  Croatoan  was  glorious  with 
its  colored  leaves  and  late  flowers.  Weeks  had 
slipped  by  since  the  escape  from  Werowocomoca. 
Iosco  had  been  welcomed  by  his  people  ;  so  had 
Owaissa.  The  other  whites,  the  best  of  the  col- 
onists who  had  gone  to  Powhatan,  and  thor- 
oughly frightened  by  all  that  had  happened 
there,  were  looked  upon  with  suspicion  for  a 
long  time.  But  the  new-comer,  the  pale  Eng- 
lishman, made  friends  with  all.  He  was  only 
waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  return  to  James- 
town. He  was  a  priest  of  the  church,  who  had 
worn  himself  out  with  work  among  the  miners 
in  England.     He  was  broken  in  health,  and  the 

199 


200  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

doctor  in  London  had  ordered  a  sea-voyage. 
Just  as  the  colony  were  starting  from  Blackwall, 
Captain  Newport  persuaded  him  to  go  with  them, 
promising  to  bring  him  back  to  his  work  as  soon 
as  he  was  strong  again.  So  he  had  gone ;  but 
the  name  of  Martin  Atherton  was  not  added  to 
the  list,  though  he  went  across  to  the  New 
World.  Perhaps  he  was  sent  in  answer  to  the 
prayers  of  a  maiden. 

Through  the  long  months  that  passed,  as  the 
summer  slipped  away  and  the  autumn  took  its 
place,  the  prayers  of  Mrs.  Dare,  yirginia,  and 
those  few  faithful  souls,  were  answered.  The 
poor  Indians,  who  had  had  glimmerings  of  a 
liigher  life,  through  Manteo,  their  dearly  loved 
chief,  now  listened  eagerly  to  the  message  of 
the  church,  as  Martin  Atherton  told  it  in  a  sim- 
ple, direct  way,  while  they  sat  in  a  circle  on  the 
ground  about  him,  sometimes  with  great  rever- 
ence kissing  the  sacred  Book  from  which  the 
holy  teachings  came. 

Twice  a  day  the  sound  of  prayer  and  praise 
went  up  from  the  little  congregation.  Virginia 
had  taught  him  the  language  of  the  people.  He 
told  her  that  the  father  she  so  much  yearned  for 
had  not  come,  and  he  taught  her  about  the  dear 
Lord  and  his  church. 


VIRGINIA   DARE.  201 

Poor  Iosco  was  in  trouble  again.  He  had 
never  spoken  of  his  love  to  Virginia,  and  she 
did  all  in  her  power  to  conceal  her  love  from 
him.  Of  course  he  did  not  dream  of  such  a  pos- 
sibility as  her  caring  for  him.  But  he  watched 
day  by  day,  and  counted  every  moment  she  spent 
with  Martin  Atherton.  Soon  he  would  go  to 
the  white  people,  and  then  he  supposed  Owaissa 
would  go  too.  -;/' 

All  Saints'  Day  dawned  clear  and  bright.  It 
was  to  be  a  great  day  at  Croatoan,  but  how 
eventful  none  of  them  knew.  It  was  time  for 
the  great  service  to  begin.  Virginia's  face  was 
radiant  with  happiness,  her  fair  hair  falling 
loosely  over  her  mantle  of  turkey  feathers. 

"  She  might  be  the  Queen  of  Sheba,"  thought 
Martin  Atherton,  as  he  came  a  little  way  behind 
her.  "  Her  dignity  and  simplicity  are  perfect. 
Surely  no  one  could  doubt  the  grace  of  baptism 
who  knows  a  soul  like  that,  with  its  desire  for 
knowledge  growing  stronger  among  heathen  sur- 
roundings ;  a  life  of  praise  and  worship,  though 
she  does  not  know  it.  It  was  she  that  converted 
these  heathen,  not  I." 

He  watched  her  as  she  knelt,  then  kneeling 
himself,  his  heart  rose  in  earnest  thanksgiving 
for  what  he  had  been  permitted  to  do,  and  a 


202  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

prayer  that  his  little  Indian  congregation  might 
ever  be  guided  aright. 

The  two  figures  were  kneeling  when  Iosco 
joined  them,  followed  by  a  number  of  his  war- 
riors, among  them  Ranteo,  his  honest  face  fairly 
glowing  with  happiness.  He  thought  of  the  day 
when  Manteo  had  been  baptized  in  the  little 
chapel  at  Roanoke.  Only  then  he  had  held  an 
ignorant  reverence  for  the  holy  mystery  that  he 
was  now  to  receive  himself,  with  a  clear  knowl- 
edge of  its  grace  and  power. 

The  simple  service  began,  the  dear  prayers 
that  we  all  know  and  love,  a  simple  hymn,  and 
then  the  holy  baptismal  service.  First  Iosco 
knelt,  and  then  a  long  line  of  Indians,  all  kneel- 
ing in  turn  reverently  before  the  priest,  were 
baptized  from  a  little  spring  that  trickled  through 
mossy  rocks. 

It  was  a  strange  scene.  The  chapel  formed 
of  a  little  clearing  in  the  forest,  its  walls  the 
forest  trees,  its  roof  the  arching  branches,  its 
spire  a  tall  poplar-tree  reaching  towards  heaven, 
its  altar  a  rough  rock.  The  open  book  from 
which  the  prayers  were  read  lay  on  the  stump  of 
a  tree :  the  birds  joined  in  the  hymns  of  praise, 
and  the  deep  sigh  of  the  wind  in  the  forest  was 
the  organ. 


VIRGINIA  DARE.  203 

The  holy  sign  had  been  made  on  each  brow, 
and  they  were  henceforth  no  longer  heathen,  but 
soldiers  of  the  great  King.  Martin  Atherton  stood 
before  his  little  congregation  and  spoke  to  them. 
He  did  not  preach  on  systematic  theology,  or 
discuss  the  question  whether  St.  Paul's  garment 
was  his  cloak  or  a  vestment ;  he  spoke  as  a  great 
soul  bringing  a  great  message.  He  tried  to  show 
his  hearers  the  power  of  the  gospel  in  the  past 
and  in  the  present.  He  told  it  simply,  but  with 
an  eloquence  that  held  every  one.  His  clear 
voice  rang  through  the  forest,  with  the  last 
words,  "  Then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth 
as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of  their  Father."  A 
great  silence  crept  over  the  little  congregation 
as  the  preacher  raised  his  hand  for  the  invoca- 
tion, but  not  a  sound  came.  He  raised  his  eyes, 
and  fell  backwards  without  a  word.  He  lay 
motionless  by  the  rude  altar.  Loving  hands 
raised  his  head  and  laid  it  on  Virginia's  knee. 
For  a  moment  the  people  gathered  silently 
around  the  unconscious  form,  then  drew  away, 
that  they  might  not  keep  the  reviving  air  from 
him,  allowing  Virginia  and  Iosco  to  do  what 
they  could,  only  following  their  directions.  At 
last  the  dark  eyes  opened  and  saw  Virginia's 
beautiful   face   filled  with  sorrow  and  anxiety. 


204  VIRGINIA  DARE. 

"  Dear  child,"  he  said,  as  he  had  often  spoken 
before,  "please  raise  my  head  a  little  more. 
This  may  pass,  and  I  may  be  better  soon ;  don't 
be  anxious.  If  not " —  he  only  smiled  and  did 
not  finish. 

"  Oh,  you  must  not  die ! "  Virginia  cried ;  "we 
need  you ;  so  does  God's  work  in  this  sad  world." 

"  God  does  not  need  us,  dear  child :  it  is  we 
that  need  him.  You  will  always  be  true  and 
faithful  to  your  holy  vows,  and  when  the  day 
comes  for  you  to  go  to  England  and  to  your 
people,  you  will  have  teachers  sent  to  these 
people  who  are  yours  by  adoption." 

Somehow  the  thought  of  going  to  England 
added  to  Virginia's  pain  at  that  moment,  and 
she  drew  closer  to  Iosco  as  the  speaker  fell  into 
a  state  of  unconsciousness.  Looking  up  into 
Iosco's  face,  she  read  something  new  that  she 
had  never  seen  there  before.  He  had  lono-ed 
for  the  Christian  faith ;  he  had  wished  for  his 
baptism ;  he  had  believed  all  that  Martin  Ather- 
ton  had  taught.  The  service  that  morning 
had  changed  him.  Those  blessed  drops  "had 
worked  wonder  there,  earth's  chambers  never 
knew."  The  right  of  a  new  birth,  the  perfect 
faith  of  the  man  before  him,  had  given  Iosco 
something  he  could  not  explain,  but  he  knew 


VIRGINIA  DAEE.  205 

and  felt  that  the  dear  Lord  was  very  near,  and 
the  knowledge  of  that  perfect  love  filling  his 
heart,  his  whole  life,  brought  a  peace  which  the 
world  could  never  take  away.  It  made  him 
worthy  of  human  love,  and  yet  it  made  him  feel 
it  was  quite  possible  to  live  without  it.  When 
we  can  say  truthfully  in  our  hearts,  "  Thy  will 
be  done,"  God  sends  us  often  so  great  a  bless- 
ing that  it  almost  frightens  us  as  we  receive  it. 

The  little  congregation  had  moved  away. 
Hours  slipped  by.  Only  Virginia  and  Iosco 
watched  by  their  friend,  who  still  lay  as  if  dead, 
with  only  the  slight,  uneven  fluttering  of  his 
heart  to  show  that  there  was  yet  life  in  the  worn- 
out  body. 

Virginia  looked  up  at  Iosco,  and  speaking 
softly,  said,  '*  If  he  really  gets  better,  you  ought 
to  send  him  to  his  people,  that  he  may  see  them 
before  he  dies." 

"  The  blessed  priest  shall  be  carried  before 
the  sunrise  and  laid  among  his  people  if  he 
lives.  Iosco's  warriors  shall  keep  him  from  harm 
by  Powhatan.  The  Owaissa  can  then  go  with- 
out fear  to  her  people,  and  be  happy,"  he  replied. 

"  To-morrow,  Iosco  ?  So  soon  ?  0  Iosco  "  — 
Virginia  faltered.  Looking  down  suddenly  into 
her  upturned  face  he  read  her  great  love.     The 


206  VIRGINIA   DARE. 

two  looked  into  each  other's  eyes  long  and  ear- 
nestly, and  each  read  the  other's  heart.  Iosco 
knelt,  putting  his  arm  around  her,  and  whis- 
pered, "  Owaissa,  my  Owaissa  !  "  He  kissed 
her  forehead  again  and  again  ;  and  she  laid  her 
head  on  his  breast  and  clung  to  him  as  she  said, 
"I  will  never,  never  go,  Iosco.  Your  people 
shall  be  my  people.  We  shall  be  all  to  each 
other  now." 

"My  Owaissa  will  be  all  to  Iosco  forever." 
/  When  one  soul  which  truly  loves  looks  deep'^ 
•  into  another  and  reads  there  the  answering  love ' 
he  has  longed  for,  he  knows  what  a  great  treas- 
ure he  has  better  than  any  one  could  tell  him ; 
and  to  both  souls  comes  the  sense  that  they  are 
no  longer  separate  beings,  but  one  in  each 
other.  A  golden  light  has  spread  over  the 
world,  which,  thank  God,  nothing  earthly  has 
the  power  to  destroy. 

Two  dark  eyes  had  opened  and  were  watching 
them.  Iosco  was  the  first  to  notice  that  their 
friend  had  roused;  and,  bending  over  him,  he 
asked  if  he  wished  to  be  taken  to  his  own 
people.  The  holy  priest  said  with  a  gentle 
smile,  "  There  will  not  be  time ;  I  shall  die 
among  these  people ;  they  are  dear  to  me." 

At  his  suggestion,  the  people  were  summoned. 


y         /  ^vih^NIAaDARE.   ^   ^  207 

He  was  raised  and  supported,  and  performed  the 
last  act  of  ministry  on  earth. 

A  Christian  wedding  was  a  strange  sight  to 
these  poor  people.  It  was  over;  Owaissa  and 
Iosco  sat  together,  and  watched  by  their  friend 
till  the  sun  set,  when  his  soul  passed  in  the  glory 
of  the  golden  sky  to  the  perfect  glory  and 
brightness  of  the  people  of  God. 

The  story  of  the  life  of  the  first  American 
child  has  never  been  recorded  in  history ;  but 
that  life,  we  know,  was  not  wasted. 

Who  can  tell  what  a  pure,  brave  life  may  do  ? 
Lived  in  humble  station  in  this  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, or  in  the  wild  forest  three  hundred  years 
ago,  as  was  Virginia  Dare's  ! 


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